Transnationalism, as we discussed in class, is when migrants hold on to strong ties from more than one country at the same time. The reasons for this happening include the unstable political and economic conditions in the home country, the racism in the current country, and over-expectations of the success in the new country. This led immigrants to maintain ties to multiple countries in case the need for migration arise. This transnationalism is further reinforced by technology. With new technology such as online banking, internet, and transportation (jet planes), communication and interaction between countries are more common. Remittance is a transfer of money by a foreign worker to someone in their home country, and was identified with transnationalism. The act of remittance itself is very interesting and made me raise some questions regarding it.
What I wanted to know first was, how much money leaves the United States each year in the form of remittances, and which recipient country receives the most? A quick look at the World Bank website and it revealed that in 2012, an estimated total of 528 billion US dollars were exchanged between countries in the form of remittances. Of that sum, foreign workers in the United States alone sent out 123 billion dollars. Some Caribbean countries received very little, about 6 million in remittances. This is probably because of the relatively small size. Larger Caribbean countries such as Jamaica received about 2.1 billion. Haiti received 1.6 billion and the Dominican Republic received 3.5 billion. The top two recipient countries were India and China with 69 billion and 60 billion dollars respectively. However, we must take into account that both China and India have a much higher population, which would indicate more transnational networks. The World Bank also reports that many countries do not report remittance data, and some remittances are sent through informal means.
Remittances have a huge influence on developing countries. The money these countries receive helps the economy, spurring economic growth. By having a stronger economy, the country can play a larger role in the global economy. This benefits all parties. However, the effects can also be negative. Families who receive remittances have a higher standard of living when compared to those who don’t. this creates a big gap in society.
