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Effects of Remittance Behavior on the Lives of Recent Immigrants to Canada from the Philippines: A Population-Based Longitudinal Study

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Abstract

Remittances, money sent by immigrants to family members in their countries of origin, were studied. Research goals were to (1) describe remittance behavior over time and (2) understand effects of sending remittances on the lives of remitters living in Canada. Data were obtained from three waves of the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (2000–2004) for a national sample of Canadian Filipino immigrants. Multivariate regression analyses were used to assess the effects of remittances on health, housing and living conditions of the study population. Results showed that over time respondents’ own health was not affected by remitting. In contrast housing and living conditions were affected: Remitters were less likely to own their homes and more likely to rent than non-remitters when the effects of age, sex, family income and immigration class were controlled. The researchers make suggestions for practice and future research dealing with housing and living conditions of recent immigrants to Canada.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a Grant from the Life Course Health Initiative of the Faculty of Human Ecology, University of Manitoba (2008–2009). It was also supported by a Faculty Award to Dr. Shooshtari from Manitoba Research Data Centre in 2008. Data were made available by permission from Statistics Canada. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Statistics Canada.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Social Sciences, Faculty of Human Ecology, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

    Shahin Shooshtari & Carol D. H. Harvey

  2. Faculty of Social Work, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

    Evelyn Ferguson & Tuula Heinonen

  3. Department of Economics, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

    Syeed Khan

Authors
  1. Shahin Shooshtari
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  2. Carol D. H. Harvey
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  3. Evelyn Ferguson
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  4. Tuula Heinonen
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  5. Syeed Khan
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Correspondence to Shahin Shooshtari.

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Shooshtari, S., Harvey, C.D.H., Ferguson, E. et al. Effects of Remittance Behavior on the Lives of Recent Immigrants to Canada from the Philippines: A Population-Based Longitudinal Study. J Fam Econ Iss 35, 95–105 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-013-9356-1

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