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During a pandemic these families will have fewer traditional carers than most families.
The migrant women will be particularly vulnerable.
MIGRATION: More Women Toiling Far From Home
By Abid Aslam
WASHINGTON, Nov 26 (IPS) - The stereotype of the male migrant toiling in a foreign land on behalf of an impoverished wife and children needs updating as half the time the migrant is a woman, says a new report.
Some 190 million people -- three percent of the world's population -- lived outside their country of origin in 2005, the World Bank, citing United Nations statistics, said Monday. Of them, 95 million or 49.6 percent, were women.
"Women are sending lots of money to their families back home, and evidence from rural Mexico shows that their migration leads to positive economic effects for the homes they leave behind," said Andrew Morrison, the bank's lead gender economist.
Researchers found that men in impoverished rural Mexico are more likely to raise cash crops or engage in other types of work that generate income than are women. So when a man leaves to go abroad, the household loses income. Once abroad, the man must earn more than he would have earned at home for his family to see the benefit of his departure.
Far fewer women leave home to work abroad, mostly in the United States. But those who go need earn less than would a man in order to make a net contribution to the family's income because back home, women engage in work that is not financially compensated: raising staple food crops and tending the children, among other things.
The number of female migrants is larger than that of male migrants in the former Soviet Union (58 percent and rising), according to the report. It is about equal and rising in Europe, Oceania, and Latin America and the Caribbean; equal and steady in North America; and smaller in Africa (47 percent and rising). In Asia, the proportion of female migrants, estimated at 43 percent, is falling.
In the United States, women migrants from the Caribbean, East Asia, Europe, and Africa below the Sahara have joined the work force in greater proportions than have women from South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.
Women migrants educated in the United States make more money than those educated in their home countries. Among women schooled back home, those from Ireland, Australia and Britain earn the most. Among developing countries, women from South Africa, Jamaica, and India have the largest earnings. Those from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba earn the least. The report suggests this is because they lack language skills.
The migrant women will be particularly vulnerable.
MIGRATION: More Women Toiling Far From Home
By Abid Aslam
WASHINGTON, Nov 26 (IPS) - The stereotype of the male migrant toiling in a foreign land on behalf of an impoverished wife and children needs updating as half the time the migrant is a woman, says a new report.
Some 190 million people -- three percent of the world's population -- lived outside their country of origin in 2005, the World Bank, citing United Nations statistics, said Monday. Of them, 95 million or 49.6 percent, were women.
"Women are sending lots of money to their families back home, and evidence from rural Mexico shows that their migration leads to positive economic effects for the homes they leave behind," said Andrew Morrison, the bank's lead gender economist.
Researchers found that men in impoverished rural Mexico are more likely to raise cash crops or engage in other types of work that generate income than are women. So when a man leaves to go abroad, the household loses income. Once abroad, the man must earn more than he would have earned at home for his family to see the benefit of his departure.
Far fewer women leave home to work abroad, mostly in the United States. But those who go need earn less than would a man in order to make a net contribution to the family's income because back home, women engage in work that is not financially compensated: raising staple food crops and tending the children, among other things.
The number of female migrants is larger than that of male migrants in the former Soviet Union (58 percent and rising), according to the report. It is about equal and rising in Europe, Oceania, and Latin America and the Caribbean; equal and steady in North America; and smaller in Africa (47 percent and rising). In Asia, the proportion of female migrants, estimated at 43 percent, is falling.
In the United States, women migrants from the Caribbean, East Asia, Europe, and Africa below the Sahara have joined the work force in greater proportions than have women from South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.
Women migrants educated in the United States make more money than those educated in their home countries. Among women schooled back home, those from Ireland, Australia and Britain earn the most. Among developing countries, women from South Africa, Jamaica, and India have the largest earnings. Those from Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba earn the least. The report suggests this is because they lack language skills.