The gender-remittances nexus and the impact of COVID-19

Remittances are an important source of development finance, particularly in recent years due also to increased migration flows at global level. The recent COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a sudden drop of remittances and an alarming aspect of the pandemic is that it particularly affected female migrants. Despite the importance of gender for remittance sending and usage, research about international migration and remittances insufficiently takes into account its role. Against this background, the aim of this paper is to partially fill this gap in the relevant literature by trying to address the following important questions: (1) In what ways is gender important in understanding the sending and the usage of remittances?; and (2) what is the relationship between gender, COVID-19 and pandemic-induced remittance reductions? In doing so, we provide an overview of the (limited) literature on the vast influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on female migrants and we also assess whether gender has had an influence on the extent to which remittance inflows decreased as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic by conducting a preliminary empirical analysis based on some recent data (albeit limited) on the above nexus. Surprisingly, we found a negative correlation between COVID-19-induced changes in remittances and female emigration rates. This contrasts with insights about the higher vulnerability of female migrants for the pandemic. However, this finding seems to be in line with the stand of the literature which seems to suggest that female migrants remit more during periods of crisis than male ones, and that they tend to remit a larger percentage of their income than male migrants. This paper contributes to the relevant literature in multiple ways. First, our detailed discussion of the influence of gender on remittances and the impact of COVID-19 on female migrants has revealed other important aspects in the overall relationship that can stimulate further research on these topics and also raise important policy questions for policymakers. Second, our preliminary findings of a possible negative correlation between COVID-19-induced changes in remittances and female emigration rates is very relevant. In view of the insights we gained from the discussion of the relevant literature, these findings raise important concerns about female migrants’ well-being during the pandemic and call for further empirical research in this crucial area once more reliable data become available.