While significantly improving the welfare of rural families,
remittances sent home by many millions of China’s internal
migrants come at a human cost to migrants and their families,
according to the latest report in IOM’s Migration Research
Series.

Domestic Migrant Remittances in China, Distribution, Channels
and Livelihoods says that while much attention is focused on the
large amount of money remitted by China’s internal migrants -
an estimated US$ 30 billion in 2005 through official means - more
attention needs to be given to the human cost of internal migration
in policy debates such as protracted separation and the role of
remittances on intergenerational and gender inequalities within
families.

Gruelling work hours and poor conditions combined with a desire
to remit as much money as they can means that many migrants often
don’t invest in warm bedding, clothing and decent food, which
affects their health.

The report also highlights the impact of migration on the
elderly, who are often left to take care of the migrants’
land and the grandchildren. As in many poor rural communities
across the world, sons rather than daughters benefit from a greater
share of scarce resources with girls being withdrawn from school to
work on the farm in the very poor households.

Significantly higher than the remittance figure for its or any
other country’s international migrants, China’s
internal remittances contributed between 20 and 50 percent of the
total income of recipient rural households. Although remittances
from temporary migration have helped to reduce income inequality
within rural areas, they have been insufficient to counter the
rural-urban income gap in China, now one of the largest in the
world. 

The report also identifies different remittances trends in China
in comparison to elsewhere in the world. In China, men remit more
than women. With distortions in sex ratios and more women
migrating, men from poor rural regions need to save more money for
a bride price and to repair or build a house to enhance his chances
of a married life.

The lack of remittances from about a quarter of China’s
internal migrants is another issue raised by the report. Unpaid
wages are a key factor in this despite government efforts demanding
fair treatment of migrants and the prompt payment of wages. Other
factors include a growing urbanization with migrants who
permanently move to the cities being less likely to remit money or
as much money as temporary migrants.

The report, however, notes the many benefits of remittances.
While alleviating poverty in poor rural areas and acting as
insurance in difficult times, remittances provide school fees for
migrant family members, are used for the purchase of consumer goods
among other things, and in general, have a positive effect on the
country’s economic growth.

For further information, please contact:

Franck Laczko

IOM Geneva

Tel: + 41 22 717 9416

E-mail: "mailto:flaczko@iom.int">flaczko@iom.int

The report is available in the "paragraph-link-no-underline" href=
"/jahia/Jahia/cache/offonce/pid/1674?entryId=11164#order" target=""
title="">IOM Website.