Do remittances compete with the dream of an enterprise

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Do remittances compete with the dream of an
enterprise?
Manuel Orozco, Inter-American Dialogue ENTREPRENE
URIAL DECISIONS ACROSS BORDERS SAVINGS,
REMITTANCES AND INVESTMENTS, AND MIGRANT
HOUSEHOLD DECISIONS November 22nd, 2006.
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Gender, remittances and investment

• Not all migrants exhibit similar gender,
  migration and remittance features
• Overall, when women are less than half or about
  half of all migrants, they remit less than men
• Gender decisions among women migrants about
  remitting and investment are different
• Policy options are available

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Gender and remittances

• As the integration of women into the paid labor
  force altered gender relations the effects are
  also felt in the migration context.
• the transformations of globalization lead to the
  feminization of labor, provoking greater female
  migration, particularly responding to job
  opportunities as domestic workers, entertainers,
  farm workers, and hospitality service providers,
  and sex workers
• Remittances both inform and are informed by
  gender A farm worker remitting to his mother in
  Zacatecas significantly influences the limits of
  expenditure his mother can afford. Similarly, a
  young man from El Salvador working in the
  cleaning industry assesses both his needs in the
  U.S. and those of his siblings in El Salvador
  according to his social condition and income, and
  then decides what the priorities of the
  transnational household are. A domestic worker
  from Paraguay or the Philippines or a Dominican
  or Cuban entertainer and single mother in Milan
  will also consider certain priorities and
  conditions for remitting, including remitting to
  the person who can take care of their children, a
  grandmother, aunt or sometimes their father.

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Sender characteristics

• Percent of senders by sex varies from regions
  50 of Latino migrant senders are women 75 of
  Filipino and Indonesian migrant senders in SE
  Asia are women 40 of Ghanaian and Nigerian
  senders in the U.S. are women 50 of Central
  Asian migrants are women
• Men send more than women their income is the
  primary determinant
• Among Latino migrants, males propensity to remit
  is higher, but not so among other groups

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Latino Remitters by sex
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Other migrant groups
Propensity to remit is different among Indonesian
and Filipinos their obligations are greater
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Beneficiaries of Latino remitters
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Beneficiaries of South East Asian Migrants. . .
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Latino Women and Men

• Women are as committed as men in sending money
  home
• However, womens commitment is more extended
  outside remitting
• They visit as much and speak with relatives as
  men
• But they also contribute to the household in
  other activities outside of remittances

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Remittance recipients

• Two thirds of remittance recipients are women
• Although women receive more money, they are also
  more disadvantaged live on lower income, are
  unpaid and have more dependents to take care of
• Hierarchy of needs varies between men and women

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Remittance recipients
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Preliminary conclusions

• Men and women face family obligations at home
  where taking care of daily activities is a
  priority in the transnational household.
• Gender-based economic differences persist. Women
  migrants in the U.S. are found to be in a more
  vulnerable economic condition, faced with
  transnational family obligations and lower
  income, and have greater difficulty moving out of
  their precarious condition.
• The similar situation is found among female
  recipients.

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Policy recommendations. . .

• Two broad policies are identified.
• First, increase the leveraging potential of
  remittances to improve the conditions of
  households.
• Second, reduce prevailing gender inequalities
  that exist to the detriment of women.

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Leveraging efforts health and education for the
transnational family

• Education is an activity and obligation that
  involves not only attending public school but
  also providing quality attention to children to
  improve their performance.
• Identifying educational needs of remittance
  recipient children and their communities leads to
  the offer an array of services,
• Extracurricular educational activities such as
  arts and crafts, sports, or religious studies,
  special tutoring classes, performance testing and
  family counseling.
• Microfinance and banking institutions are well
  suited to sell education funds and scholarships
  for those interested in getting an education.
  These funds include long term savings accounts,
  school supplies funds, and school fee
  scholarships paid by relatives of remittance
  recipients.

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Leveraging efforts in health. . .

• One in ten recipients is the child of immigrants
  and four in ten are parents of immigrants.
• Over twenty percent of recipients are over 53
  years of age (ten percent are over 62), and on
  average recipients are forty years old.
• Public and private sector institutions can offer
  a range of insurance products such as medical
  care, emergency care and dental care, as well as
  burial and body repatriation.
• These initiatives can be directly arranged
  between a remittance payer, particularly a bank
  or an MFI, and a health care provider at
  affordable rates.

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Leveraging remittances for financial access

• Although women are more financially
  disenfranchised than men, both face problems with
  financial access
• Offering freedom from costly check cashing
  services and predatory lending, and promoting
  asset development by offering access to important
  financial services and products is a priority.
• When senders have savings accounts, they are
  three times more likely to send money to support
  a family business.
• Each year of remitting is associated with a 20
  increase of in their sending money to pay off
  loans.
• Remittance recipients with bank accounts receive
  27 more in remittances, and the longer they
  receive remittances, the higher the likelihood
  that the family will continue to run its business.