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- Background and Purpose:
Measuring progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires the ability to capture dynamic process, and this is especially true when considering whether and how remittances from migration contribute to the reduction of poverty and inequalities. This study draws on an unique longitudinal, mixed-method dataset to interrogate the state of progress towards the SDGs by focusing on the occurrence of transnational migration and remittances in one major origin country of migrants. The study examines three questions: (i) does migration matter in how households acquire and build income, wealth and assets over time? (ii) how do remittance-receiving households use remittances? (iii) does the use of remittances vary according to the migration status of households: new migrant, continuing migrant, and return migrant?
- Methods:
The Child Health and Migrant Parents in Southeast Asian (CHAMPSEA) is a longitudinal mixed-method study investigating the health and well-being of families with migrants in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, which is used in the current paper. The study adopted a flexible quota-sampling approach which is replicable due to lack of any relevant data on transnational households with children under age 18. We surveyed 1,000 households in 2008 and revisited 758 households in 2016/2017 with an attrition rate of 24%, comparable to other studies in the region. Current analysis applies regression modeling combined with data from in-depth interviews with young adult children and adult family members to investigate the longer-term impact of remittances on household economics.
- Results:
While working abroad, earning more, and sending remittances have generally improved the economic conditions of migrant households, enabling migrant households to improve the well-being of household members, these gains, however, are rather fragile unless migrants continue working abroad. The expectation that migrants returning home with capital and knowledge that will spur investments, enterprises and development was not unequivocally supported by the analysis. The findings also point to the structural conditions that require the capacity of institutions to provide an enabling environment to sustain livelihoods and safety nets.
- Conclusions and Implications:
The implications of these findings speak to SDG1: End Poverty; SDG10: Reduce Inequalities (including Target 10.1: Migration). The findings overall underscore the pressing need for global partnership as well as government, civil society, private sector and families to improve progress on sustainable poverty reduction and increasing equality as enshrined in SDG 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development. In pursuing migration as a household strategy for livelihood and social mobility, migrant workers and their families take on enormous responsibilities and sacrifices to improve their household welfare. While they are abroad and upon their return, they and their households are expected to spend remittances wisely and to be prepared for the migrants’ return. As the findings emphasize, migrants and their families need an enabling environment to sustain the benefits of migration. This calls for sustainable development policies which cannot be sufficiently met alone by migration policies and which must occur at all levels—local, national and global.