Red de Desarrollo Social de América Latina y el Caribe
Plataforma virtual para la difusión de conocimiento sobre desarrollo social

A Commitment to Family: Remittances and the Covid-19 Pandemic

 

Autor institucional : BID - Inter-American Dialogue - Creative Associates International
Autor/Autores: Manuel Orozco y Kathryn Klaas
Fecha de publicación: Junio 2021
Alcance geográfico: Interregional
Publicado en: Estados Unidos
Descargar: Descargar PDF
Resumen: This report presents the findings of a survey carried out with more than 1,000 US immigrants from eight Latin American and Caribbean nationalities during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study identifies critical aspects that shaped migrants" experiences in 2020 and early 2021. It also points to the determinants of continuing to send money back home in times of crisis. It finds that people continued remitting despite having lost employment, working fewer hours, or being affected by the spread of the virus. More specifically, we found that the likelihood of sending remittances under these circumstances increased when people have children in their home country and have a stronger financial base.One lesson learned from this period is that migrants were better prepared to face adverse situations, such as a crisis that results in economic lockdown. Moreover, the continuity with which migrants sent money during 2020 and the increases already seen in the first quarter of 2021 provide more than an opportunity to leverage these funds for economic recovery and modernization. They offer an urgent chance for integrating remittances into strategies for coping with slow recovery from the pandemic. Furthermore, they can be invested in areas that modernize home countries" economies while also addressing contexts that are typically conducive to large migration.
   

 

 

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