Overview of remittances
- Remittances – money and other assistance sent by migrants, refugees and displaced persons – are a key support for hundreds of millions of families and children around the world.
- Globally, 800 million people – about one in every nine people worldwide – live in households receiving international remittances. In some countries, more than 30 per cent of all children have at least one parent who works and lives away from home.
- In 2019, international remittances amounted to $548 billion1 – more than three times greater than the sum of Official Development Assistance worldwide.
- Remittances equate to 5 per cent or more of gross domestic product (GDP) in 57 countries, areas or territories, and to more than 20 per cent of GDP in 10 of these countries, areas or territories.
COVID-19, remittances and children
- The World Bank estimates that the COVID-19 pandemic may result in a drop in international remittances from $548 billion in 2019 to $470 billion in 2021 – a fall of 14 per cent over two years.
- These effects will be felt at a national, community, family and individual level, including through increases in household income poverty. For example, the income poverty rate could increase from 20 to 25 per cent in the Republic of Moldova, and from 29 to 36 per cent in Kyrgyzstan.
- The projected drop in remittances also presents risks to children’s physical health, mental health and education, as well as potential increases in child marriage and child labour.
Responses
- Migrant workers are at risk of being doubly excluded from the socio-economic response to COVID-19, being absent from their country of origin and often ineligible for social protection in their host country. Migrant workers will also be in need of support if they return to their country of origin.
- Their families of origin risk missing out on relief measures targeting workers, and not qualifying for support that overlooks the ‘new poor’.
- A comprehensive response to these issues is needed, incorporating:
- support for international migrant workers in their host country
- measures to maintain remittance flows during the pandemic period
- support for returning migrant workers, remittance-receiving households and children
- international cooperation on social protection.