Kavita Datta and Cathy McIlwaine Department of Geography Queen Mary University of London

1. Balancing low-paid work and remittance sending in London • Kavita Datta and Cathy McIlwaine • Department of Geography • Queen Mary • University of London • Migrants and their Money: Securing a Better Deal, 28th April, 2007

2. Research project • ‘Global Cities at Work’ examines the role and experiences of migrants working in low-paid sectors of London’s economy, and links these experiences to coping strategies • Funded by Economic and Social Research Council (2005-2007) • Yara Evans, Joanna Herbert, Jon May and Jane Wills • Working papers arising from the project are available on: http://www.geog.qmul.ac.uk/globalcities/index.html

3. Structure of presentation • Aims of presentation • Methodological framework • Key conceptual debates • Main empirical findings • Concluding remarks

4. Main research aims • To highlight the costs of remitting on migrant workers. • To show that remittances have to be better managed in order that migrants, and their families, reap the maximum advantages from them. • We do this through an empirical investigation into: • nature of remittance sending among low-paid migrant workers in London • labour market conditions under which these remittances are produced • personal sacrifices that migrants have to make in order to remit

5. Methodological Framework • Mixed methods approach • a) Questionnaire survey of 424 migrant workers • b) In-depth interviews with 103 migrant workers • Working in • Care • Hotel and Hospitality • Cleaning (offices and London Underground) • Construction

6. Key conceptual debates • Remittances are the most tangible transnational flow that link the Global South to the Global North • Focus of research has been on financial remittances (“migradollars”) even though it is recognised that non-economic remittances also play an important role in the overall well-being of migrants and non-migrants • In 2005, remittances amounted to US$167 billion and were the second largest capital flow behind FDI and ahead of ODA (likely to be higher still due to use of IRTS)

7. Importance of remittances to countries in the Global South is further illustrated by declining economic growth rates and ODACoupled with the increased volume and visibility of remittances, this has led some to classify remittances as the “new development finance” or new “development mantra”

8. Academic research on remittances has explored the impact of remittances on a range of scales (global, national, regional and local); and on a variety of development indices (such as poverty, vulnerability, inequality) • On balance, researchers have stressed the positive aspects of migration and remittances and celebrated migrants as active agents boosting growth in both the Global North and South • More recent transnational approaches, identify the importance of focusing on both the costs and benefits of remitting

9. We argue that there is a need to locate remittance sending within the broader context of migrants lives in host countries. • There islittle appreciation of the conditions under which remittances are produced, the cost of remitting on migrants, the sacrifices that they have to make as well as the exploitative conditions they have to put up with. • It is only by doing this, that we can acknowledge the costs of remitting on low-paid migrants themselves while appreciating the potential benefits of remittances themselves

10. Main empirical findings a) Which migrants send remittances? • 73% of respondents in questionnaire survey remitted money home • Men and women equally likely to remit (74% in each case) • In terms of age, those most likely to remit were aged 45-54 (81%) and 35-44 (79%) • Migrants from sub-Saharan Africa most likely to remit (81%), followed by Eastern Europeans (72%), Latin Americans (69%), Asian/South East Asians (68%)

11. Recent migrants (who arrived between 2001 and 2006) were more likely to remit (50%) compared to those who arrived between 1991 and 2000 (40%) • In terms of sectors, cleaners on LU were most likely to remit (89%), followed by general cleaners (75%). Construction workers were least likely (57%) • Migrants remitted between 20-30% of their income, but this ranged from 4% in the case of Ajua, a Ghanaian care worker, to a high of 65% in the case of Eduardo, a Brazilian construction worker who was sending money to his two young daughters as well as his ex-wife

12. b) Why do migrants send remittances? • Motives for sending remittances ranged from altruistic reasons to self-interest although these are interrelated • Generally, migrants reported altruistic reasons for sending remittances. This enabled family members to meet daily subsistence needs such as buying food and paying rent, basic utility and sometimes medical bills • Remittances also sent to support education of various family members and used to pay fees, buy uniforms, books and other materials

13. Generally, migrants with close family members were likely to remit the highest amounts for altruistic purposes and remit more regularly • This applied particularly to both transnational mothers and transnational fathers Patricia, a care worker from Jamaica, had left her 12 year old daughter in the care of her father and a domestic helper and she sent home money once or twice a month. The amount she sent varied between £50-100. Jose, a construction worker had three children in Brazil who lived with his two ex-wives: “I send £660 for two of them. To the other I provide a ‘basic basket’, so to speak. Every month my mum goes out shopping, which she then takes to him. Clothing, shoes and school expenses, I pay for it all. I give £660 to the other two because I want to... I do it because this is my duty”

14. Some reported intra-family conflict in terms of ‘deserving’ and ‘non-deserving’ recipients of remittances Barbara a care worker from St Lucia reported: “But my dad, my sisters, say don’t send a penny to him. Because when I send to him, he gives it away … To his other nieces--, his other nieces are much well off than us, he shouldn’t be doing that at all. My dad is okay, he’s getting his pension and of course he has his land so, you know, he looks after the land and he earns income from the land so there’s no need for any money to go to him”

15. Non-altruistic reasons for remitting mainly focused on desire to invest in businesses, or building houses in home countries • Others needed to pay off debts they had generated to move to the UK

16. c) How are remittances generated? Working conditions among migrants in London • Low wages 1st period of survey: Oct 2004/Sept 2005 Mean hourly rate = £5.39; NMW = £4.85; LW = £6.70 2nd period of survey: Jan to October 2006 Mean hourly rate = £5.77; NMW = £5.05; LW = £7.05 • Lack of social wage - One third never had pay rise - Half lost pay for taking time off for emergencies - Over half (52%) did not receive sick pay - Over half (55%) worked unsociable hours (early, late or night shifts)

17. Deskilling Pedro, a Brazilian office cleaner noted: “many people think that we immigrants are used to cleaning in our country but there are many immigrants who were solicitors, accountants, and in different professions. We are not just worth nothing, we have some value.” • Maltreatment – partly attributable to low value attached to the work migrants did; irregular status • Competition between migrants, especially from Eastern Europe further undermined wage and employment conditions

18. Nivaldo, a construction worker from Brazil noted: “These are people that work there from 8am-5:30pm and then work cleaning for 4 hours at night. They sleep for 4 hours only each night and spend only £350 per month. They live in bad accommodation, they eat badly. They are dreamers. Once I was talking it with a friend in a joking way, this are people that for each one brick they lay here, they think is equal to two bricks that they are laying in their house in Brazil. They are people that sacrifice a lot”

19. d) What are the personal costs of remitting for migrants? • Many migrants reported pressure to remit money back home Ajua, a care worker from Ghana said: ““a lot of friends of mine, they have to … , if they get paid say 200 pounds a week, they have to send about 50 pounds, 100 pounds back home because they’ve got their mum, they’ve got their dad, they’ve got their siblings”. • This must be balanced with the cost of living in London

20. Migrants develop a range of strategies to allow them to send money home while surviving in an expensive city like London. This included: • Sharing accommodation (80% of migrants shared housing) • Multi-earning and dual earning (18% had more than one job; 38% had more than one household member working) • Minimising consumption levels (eating less, searching offers in supermarkets) • Reverse remittances

21. Conclusions • Need to acknowledge the costs of remitting on migrants so that these stories are not lost in the euphoria of the ‘new development mantra’ • Given the considerable costs and personal sacrifices which accompany the generation of remittances, it is critical that remittances are better managed so that the maximum benefits accrue to migrants, and their families • Focus on remittances should not obscure the fact that Northern and Southern states, and not migrants, are ultimately responsible for financing development