Document Type
Migration Policy Series
Publication Date
2021
Department
Balsillie School of International Affairs
Abstract
As the role of migrant remittances for poverty reduction, economic growth and sustainable development in sending countries gains increasing attention, this report reviews the evidence for the linkages between remittances and the social welfare of receiving households, communities and countries, as well as remitters themselves. In low and middle-income countries, where national social security systems have been underdeveloped, monetary and other assistance by family and community members have long constituted an important form of non-state social welfare. Rooted in social relationships and networks of family, kinship connections and social community, individual remittances offer informal mechanisms of social protection. The report finds that, while remittances may positively affect the social welfare of recipients, they are not a replacement for public forms of social protection. T he compensatory effects of remittances on human welfare are complements to and not substitutes for the established state responsibilities for effective social policies and social protection. These external flows are seen to stabilize national economies and contribute to economic growth. Nevertheless, they produce difficult burdens for marginal remitters, especially when social programmes are weak in sending areas. The weak inclusion of these remitters in the social protection programmes of migrant-receiving countries is another dimension of remittances and social welfare that requires more attention.
Recommended Citation
Ramachandran, S. & Crush, J. (2021). Between Burden and Benefit: Migrant Remittances, Social Protection and Sustainable Development. Waterloo, ON: Southern African Migration Programme. SAMP Migration Policy Series No. 83.