Impact of Global Crisis on Migrant Workers and Families

A Survey-Based Analysis with a Gender Perspective

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• Publisher: Asian Development Bank
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9789292540593
• eBook ISBN: 9789292540609
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Women in Business
• Index: Business

This publication examines the impact of the crisis among migrant workers and their families---with gender perspective---to provide useful information for better evidence-based policy making. Based on household surveys in Indonesia and the Philippines, the results show that women are in worse condition and are more vulnerable than men. Women migrants still have lower education and skills, reflected in their inferior jobs. They face greater difficulties in reintegration when they return, forcing them to return abroad. Women also bear a heavier burden due to their gendered role in the family, and those who stay are more often unemployed or in vulnerable employment. Moreover, despite strong views that the man should be the breadwinner and the one going abroad, the increasing feminization of current migration indicates that necessity is a strong push factor forcing more women to go abroad. These findings further strengthen the call for considering gender in migration policies.

1. Introduction

1.1. Background

As the global financial crisis that began in 2008 unraveled, the fear that labor migration and associated remittances would be among the first casualties was especially strong in Asia. This is because the region is the main source of migrant workers and therefore receives the bulk¹ of remittances from its host countries. The fears of a slump in remittances and a large-scale return of migrants proved largely unfounded (World Bank 2011a; Ratha 2011, slide 14; Oxfam International 2010, p. 16), but this did not mean that the crisis did not have implications for migrant workers and their families, especially as the crisis apparently hide variations of impacts at sector or migrant family levels. This concern is increasingly relevant as recession continues in major industrial economies, and the economic environment and outlook for global job creation continue to remain bleak (International Labour Organization 2012a, p. 9). For migrant households, the important transmission channels for the impacts are not only through overseas employment and remittances but also through local employment and income-earning opportunities, particularly for household members working in export-oriented sectors that were badly hit by the crisis.

To examine the impact of the global financial crisis on migration and remittances in developing countries in Asia, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) conducted a series of studies financed under the ADB regional technical assistance project Global Crisis, Remittance, and Poverty in Asia (RETA 7436). The project basically examines the possible impacts of the crisis at different levels (global, country, sector, and migrant household levels). The global-level analysis was conducted using an econometric method based on global migration and remittances data. The country-level analysis was done for Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Viet Nam using computable general equilibrium modeling and/or econometric techniques based on country-level data. Finally, examination at the migrant household level was carried out based on a series of migrant household surveys,² which were conducted in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the Philippines. These countries were selected because they are among the largest labor-exporting countries in Asia and hence receive significant amounts of remittances. Results of the study have been published in many different publications (in an ADB-International Organization for Migration joint publication entitled The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Migrants and their Families in Asia: A Survey-based Analysis (ADB and IOM 2011); in two chapters of the World Bank publication Migration and Remittances during the Global Financial Crisis and Beyond (World Bank 2012a); and in an ADB publication, Global Crisis, Remittances, and Poverty in Asia (ADB 2012b).

The study found that the effects of the crisis differ across countries and sectors among other factors, and that the impacts could adversely affect the economic growth and poverty reduction in the sending countries. To some extent, the effects are also influenced by migrants’ characteristics, such as countries of origin and destination, levels of education, and occupation and length of stay abroad, as well as by migrant household attributes such as educational attainment of household heads and household size and composition (ADB 2012a).

Further examination of the results reveals the need to see the gender dimension of the impact—the extent to which men and women migrant workers and their families were affected differently by the crisis will have valuable policy implications. Therefore, ADB conducted a follow-up study in 2012 in order to

examine the dynamics of the impact of the crisis, such as the duration and direction of the impacts on migrant workers and migrant households by considering the gender dimensions;

analyze the impacts on migrant workers and households on key issues, such as remittance behavior, earnings and working conditions of migrant workers, return migration, intention to migrate, migrant household income and expenditure, and savings and investments; and

identify the coping mechanisms adopted by migrant workers and their families in facing the crisis.

The follow-up study was financed by a regional technical assistance project, Impact of the Global Crisis on Asian Migrant Workers and their Families: A Survey-Based Analysis with a Gender Perspective as a subcomponent of the project Promoting Gender Equality and Women Empowerment (RETA 6143). As part of the follow-up study, revisit surveys were conducted in Indonesia and the Philippines.³ Bangladesh was excluded, for its labor migration is not as highly feminized as in Indonesia and the Philippines. Women compose an estimated 75% of Indonesian migrant workers and more than 50% of those in the Philippines, while in Bangladesh the share is only about 10%.

Therefore, the analysis presented here was based the two interconnected surveys. The first survey was conducted in 2010, covering about 600 migrant households with the period of observation from October 2008 to September 2009 (hereinafter referred as 2010 survey) and no special gender perspective. The second, or revisit, survey was done in 2012, covering around 200 migrant households drawn primarily from the original sample of the first survey covering the period October 2008 to April 2012 (hereinafter referred as the 2012 survey). Parallel with both surveys, a series of focus groups and roundtable discussions were carried out with migrant household heads and family members, return migrants, and key informants to validate the survey results and to shed further light on the issues. Details of the survey design,⁴ together with the household questionnaire used in the second survey and the guides for the focus group and roundtable discussions, are provided in Appendixes 4a to 4c.

In this context, it is important to note that various other studies have also emphasized the following points:

There is still limited concrete empirical evidence to substantiate conclusions regarding the negative effects of the crisis, let alone the differentiated impact of the crisis on men and women migrant workers (IOM 2009).

It is important to distinguish between short-term (a year after the crisis) and longer-term effects of the crisis, as there is a time lag for the full impact of the crisis to affect international migration and remittances (Abella and Ducanes 2009).

Remittances to developing countries in Asia proved to be resilient. They did not drop in 2009. In fact, they increased by about 9% to $180 billion in 2010 (Ratha 2011). Despite the crisis, remittances were resilient due in part to a combination of (i) increased migration brought about by job losses in home countries; (ii) increased remittances to augment challenging economic realities in the origin countries, reflecting the countercyclical nature of remittances; and (iii) returning migrants who lost their jobs and brought home their savings (United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific 2011).

The resilience of remittances has also partly to do with the gendered nature of labor migration. Women migrants, who work primarily in the care sector (e.g., nursing and domestic work) and “entertainment,” are less prone to business cycles. By contrast, men migrants mainly work in manufacturing and construction, which are more prone to business cycles that directly affect worker earnings and remittances (Ghosh 2009b).

On the other hand, women migrants are more likely to be coerced into accepting deteriorating employment conditions. They are also more vulnerable to anti-migrant policies and sentiments while having limited access to labor and social protection (International Labour Organization and ADB 2011)

Women migrants also bear the brunt of the crisis, as they often take up multiple roles in the households (i.e., responsible for managing the family and household). (ILO and ADB 2011).

1.2. Objectives and Structure of the Report

The results of the first study brought out the need to systematically analyze the impacts of the crisis from a gender perspective. To this end, the second study examined how men and women migrant workers and their household members were affected differently by the crisis. The main objectives of this study are to examine the impacts of the crisis on migrant workers and their families by using all available information, including from the 2010 and 2012 surveys, and by considering the gender dimension explicitly. In particular, the study seeks to achieve the following:

Examine the dynamics of the impacts (i.e., duration and direction) of the crisis on migrant workers and migrant households by looking at the gender dimensions. It compares the impact 1 year after the crisis with the impact after 3 years, looking at how men and women migrant workers and household members experience the impact.

Analyze the impacts of the crisis on migrant workers and households with emphasis on gender differences. The affected factors include remittance behavior, earnings, working conditions, return migration, and intention to migrate. The study further examines the impacts of the crisis on migrant households in the home country covering income, expenditure, savings, investments and also intention to migrate.

Identify the coping mechanisms adopted by migrant workers and households in facing the crisis, using a gender lens. The coping mechanisms include different kinds of adjustments in living conditions and expenditures by migrant workers and family members. The study also looks at different types of assistance provided by employers, home and host governments, nongovernment organizations, and other stakeholders.

The ADB-IOM first survey covered the period between October 2008 and September 2009 as “after the crisis.” By 2010, the “palpable sense of crisis” had receded in Asian countries, but the world economy has far from recovered⁵—the global outlook is increasingly uncertain and the crisis conditions in the global labor markets continue.⁶ While Asia’s economic performance remains positive, ...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Boxes, Figures, and Tables
• Foreword
• Acronyms and Abbreviations
• Executive Summary
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Impact of the Crisis on Migrant Workers and Their Families: A Macro Picture
• 3. Impact of the Crisis on Migrant Workers and Their Families: A Survey-Based Analysis
• 4. Conclusion and Policy Implications
• 5. Reflections on Gender-Responsive Policies for Migrant Workers and Their Families
• References
• Appendix 1: Methodology of the 2010 Survey
• Appendix 2: Methodology of the 2012 (Revisit) Survey and Focus Group and Roundtable Discussions
• Appendix 3: Questionnaire for the Impact of Global Financial Crisis among Women and Men Migrants and Their Families: A Gender Perspective, 2012 Survey
• Appendix 4a: Focus Group Discussion Guide: Heads of Migrant Households
• Appendix 4b: Focus Group Discussion Guide: Return Migrants
• Appendix 4c: Focus Group Discussion Notes for the Facilitation Team
• Appendix 5: Migrants Covered under ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No.189)
• Appendix 6: Statistical Tables from the Results of the 2010 and 2012 Surveys
• Back Cover