"Covid-19 Impacts Migrant Vulnerabilities and Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean", 12th June 2020

Manuel Orozco was interviewed on CGTN America about the impact of the United States’ Covid-19 related economic crisis on Latin American migrants and remittances sent to Latin America. He discusses how “migrant workers all over the world are losing their jobs, and perhaps the job losses are higher than for the native-born population. One of the consequences is that migrants feel constrained from continuing to send money to their families.”...

One of the consequences of the loss of income [resulting from the decline in remittances] is that you have a drop in consumption. For many countries in the developing world, but especially for Latin America and the Caribbean, the most important source of income in a national economy is household consumption. In Latin America, 70 percent of gross domestic product is based on household consumption. If most households are remittance recipients, their demand for food and other types of consumption will drop, which, in turn, will prolong economic recovery...

These countries’ economies will actually take longer to recover. Most of the money people receive in the form of remittances is integrated into household income to invest in savings for future investments as well as education. That income loss will prevent [families] from looking towards a better-improved quality of life...