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Email this citationCIAO DATE: 08/05
Migrant Remittances, Development and Gender
Ninna Nyberg Sørensten
July 2005
Abstract
Migration transforms not only the destiny of individual migrants but also the conditions of family members left behind, of local communities and of the wider society. Despite the fact that migratory processes are multidimensional and may generate a wide array of positive as well as negative consequences for development, remittances have lately become the single most emphasized evidence and measuring stick for the ties connecting migrants with their societies of origin.
Apart from being somewhat critical of approaches that burden migrants and make them responsible for functions that rightfully belong to states, this brief aims at contributing a gender perspective to the migration-development debate. It does so by distinguishing more sharply between different migrants and migration processes, different types of remittances as well as different forms of development.
It is generally assumed that women by and large send back home a greater share of their earnings in remittances than men and also tend to be better savers. In addition to being the largest receivers of remittances, women - when in control of remittances - are also believed to channel overseas financial transfers into better health, nutrition and education for the entire family, hereby supporting the development of stronger and more productive communities. However, gaps remain in our understanding of the gender dimensions of remittances and development.
Gender and the position of the migrant within the family are important factors influencing the amount, pattern, function, use and beneficiaries of remittances. So are patterns of gender-economic inequality in the global labour market. A gendered analysis of remittance practices must therefore include questions such as who moves and who stays, for what purposes, under which conditions, exactly what and how much flows, through which channels, and what sustains gendered migratory practices? It must also pay attention to the social remittances accompanying monetary flows.
