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Exposure to Remittances: Theoretical and Empirical Implications for Gender

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Abstract

Exposure to remittance, or the benefits of remittances, is a new concept introduced to the scholarship of migration studies, and within this broad concept there are also important gender dimensions. Women constitute around half of the total international migration flow in today’s world; however, the amount of the remittance that they are exposed to is considerably lower than that of males. This paper argues that although females remit a higher proportion of their income than men, they enjoy less ‘exposure to remittance’ than men. One hundred one respondents (remitters and receivers) were interviewed using an open and closed ended questionnaire from seven selected countries in Asia. Conceptualization of ‘exposure to remittance’ has been made with empirical support. The level of exposure depends on a respective country’s social and cultural milieu. Females in Bangladesh (P < 0.004) are significantly less exposed to remittances than those of the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

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Notes

  1. Some being in the role of receivers; some both- receiving and transit, and some all three—receiver, senders, and transiter.

  2. For example, the USA alone requires 1.2 million new and replacement nurses by 2014. The developed west is where one in every 11 person will be over 80 years of age soon (AACN 2007).

  3. Ullah and Routray (2003) observed that women in Bangladesh suffer from the brunt of grim poverty; however, still migration propensity among the poverty-prone women is the lowest in quantitative judgment. What is interesting to question is poverty driven migration theory annulled in Bangladesh?

  4. Bhadra, Chandra. ‘International Labour Migration of Nepalese Women: The Impact Of Their Remittances On Poverty Reduction.’ Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade. 2007.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Migration and Refugee Studies (CMRS), The American University in Cairo, AUC Avenue, P.O. Box 74, New Cairo, 11835, Egypt

    A. K. M. Ahsan Ullah

  2. School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, The American University in Cairo, AUC Avenue, P.O. Box 74, New Cairo, 11835, Egypt

    A. K. M. Ahsan Ullah

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Correspondence to A. K. M. Ahsan Ullah.

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Ullah, A.K.M.A. Exposure to Remittances: Theoretical and Empirical Implications for Gender. Int. Migration & Integration 14, 475–492 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-012-0250-8

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