Mothers, main recipients of remittances in Mexico

Mothers in Mexico are the main recipients of remittances, but the average monthly income they receive is lower than that obtained by the husbands or sons of the senders, according to the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA) .

Therefore, on occasion of Mother’s Day , May is one of the months of the year in which the most remittances are sent by Mexicans abroad, not only to their mothers but in many cases also to the mother of their children.

Data from the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) shows that, during the month of May, an average of 8.5 to 10% of the total annual remittances is sent, and in 2017 only, they rose up to 9% ( USD$2,582.2 million ) of annual remittances, which rose to USD$28,771.2 million , placing Mexico in fourth place among the nations that receive remittances around the world.

The Center for the Study of Public Finances of Mexico (CEFP)

defines remittances as money transfers which an emigrating individual sends to his country of origin. In the case of Mexico, the money is mostly sent to their families and their importance lies in the foreign exchange earnings they represent and the extra income for the households.

In his book “Migración mexicana, remesas e inclusión financiera” (“Mexican Migration, Remittances and Financial Inclusion”) published on April 2018, the manager of Economic Statistics at the CEMLA , Jesús Alejandro Cervantes González , points out that Mexican mothers are the main recipients of remittances from Mexicans living abroad. This is based on the analysis of a survey applied by Banxico to 6,803 Mexican emigrants who visited the country during December holidays of 2015.

In his research, Cervantes González notes that the answers confirm the fact that remittances are money transfers between people who share family bonds and, in the case of over a thousand individuals that took the survey, the money is sent to more than one family member.

He relates that the mother of the sender was most often mentioned as the beneficiary of the remittances, appearing in 49.8% of the questionnaires, be it individually or jointly with other family members such as the father, the husband or wife, and siblings, in that order.

The CEMLA mentions that the purpose of Mexico’s remittances is to cover the recipient’s expenses regarding support, health and education , though one out of seven surveys indicated that remittances were also destined to pay for a property of the sender or, in one out of 31 questionnaires, to cover the payment of a family member’s property or to add to a savings fund.

The Center for Latin American Monetary Studies concludes that Mexicans living abroad make an average of 16.6 transfers per year . In the case of men, the number rises to 17.1 transfers, whereas women make an average of 12.8 transfers, which means that, on average, the senders make a deposit every 22 days.

The amount of the average monthly remittance resulted in 380 dollars; 405 dollars in the case of men, and USD$199 in the case of women.

According to Banxico’s figures, on the first trimester of 2018, remittances to Mexico injected an amount of USD$7,035.5 million to the country’s economy, which represented a 6.0% growth . Analysts expect this year’s remittances to surpass the amount sent on 2017, which would mark a historical high.

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