New Study Focuses on Gender and Remittances
A new study carried out by IOM and the United Nations International
Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women
(INSTRAW) reveals that when men migrate without their family, they
are more likely to start a new family in the country of destination
and eventually stop sending remittances to the family left behind.
The study, Gender and Remittances: Colombian Migration from the
West Central Metropolitan Area to Spain, also confirms that in most
cases when a woman migrates, children stay behind, usually under a
grandmother's care, and family reunification is more likely to
occur in the country of destination than upon the return of the
migrant.
The study was conducted in Spain and in Colombia's West Central
Metropolitan Area (AMCO by its Spanish acronym), an area with a
population of 1.2 million which includes the country's
coffee-growing region and is bordered by the so-called economic
triangle of Colombia which includes the cities of Bogota, Medellin
and Cali.
Although the migration experience and its end result were
different for each gender, remittance patterns for men and women
were very similar when the amounts remitted were analyzed.
But the study emphasizes that although the amounts may be the
same, they represent a bigger economic burden for women whose
salaries are much lower than those earned by male migrants.
Notwithstanding the income disparities, women send remittances more
often and for longer periods of time. Remittances sent by
female migrants to the AMCO region account for 54 per cent of the
total for that region. In 2006, Colombian migrants sent home
USD 4.2 billion in remittances.
The study also revealed that when a woman migrates and sends
remittances home, there is a marked improvement in the family's
investments strategies, especially in housing. But the
authors explain that it is not due to the amount remitted, but
because the salary of the man left behind also contributes to the
family's finances. In contrast, in households headed by women
whose husbands have migrated, investment is drastically reduced and
remittances are spent on basic needs. This is explained by
the fact that most men said they were motivated to migrate so that
their wives could stop working and stay home with the family.
The study also highlights the fact that women migrate to improve
the lives of their families, but many times they do so to escape
domestic problems, including physical abuse.
A female migrant interviewed in Spain said, "When I decided to
migrate, I told a small lie. I told my husband that I would
send for him as soon as possible. But I knew I was lying,
because I had said to myself, 'enough is enough'. I could no
longer stand our life together. He was abusive. I have
very few good memories of our life together."
According to Colombia's Statistics Department (DANE by its
Spanish acronym) in 2005 there were 3.3 million Colombians living
outside the country; this translates to 7.3 per cent of the total
population. The main destination countries are the United
States (35.4%), Spain (23.3%) and Venezuela (18.5%).
The study was compiled using IOM's Study on International
Migration and Remittances Study and interviews with migrants (male
and female) in Spain and households in the AMCO region.
A copy of the study can be found at:
For more information please contact:
Jorge Andres Gallo
IOM Colombia
Tel: +57.1.594.6410 Ext. 142
Mobile: + 311.561.9495
E-mail:
"mailto:jgallo@iom.int">jgallo@iom.int