Remittances, a remedy against poverty for millions of Mexican households

Carmen Serratos manages the dollars that one of her brothers sends each month from the United States in order to buy land and help their mother, a goal shared by many migrants and their families in Jalisco, the leading Mexican state in receiving remittances.

As a living example of the importance of remittances for millions of Mexican households, Serratos said that his four brothers emigrated to the United States more than three decades ago.

They are part of the more than 38 million people of Mexican origin estimated to live in the United States today.

Emigrating is a common practice in Tepatitlán, a small city known for its livestock production, as well as being the heart of the Altos de Jalisco, a region where going to work in the neighboring country to the north is almost a tradition.

record remittances

Despite the economic crisis resulting from the global pandemic, Mexico added a total of US$51,594 million in remittances in 2021, a record figure that represents an increase of 27% compared to 2020, when another maximum was also achieved.

And the western state of Jalisco received 10.1% of the total remittances sent to the country in 2021, according to the most recent data from the Bank of Mexico, which places Michoacán (9.7%) and Guanajuato (8.4%) in second and third place.

Remittances, which come mainly from Mexican migrants living in the United States, represent the second largest source of foreign exchange for the country after automotive exports.

Aware of this, and of the support it represents for some ten million families, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador usually calls migrants “heroes”.

According to the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (Coneval), 43.9% of the population is in a situation of poverty, that is, some 55.7 million Mexicans.

Data from the 2021 Migration and Remittances Yearbook of the National Population Council indicate that Mexico is the third country receiving remittances in the world after India and China.

The dollars sent by migrants, which accumulate eight consecutive years on the rise, reached a proportion of 4% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Mexico this 2021, as highlighted on Tuesday by Jonathan Heath, deputy governor of Banxico, on Twitter.

All for the family

From various cities in the United States, the Serratos brothers do their part to help their mother and a sister who is dedicated to taking care of her.

Carmen is the one who manages the money for Ricardo, the youngest, who with about US$350 a month helps the family and pays off a piece of land he bought for when he decides to return from Texas.

“He went there, like all those who want to get ahead. To have something because here I earned very little”, pointed out his brother’s wife, a locksmith by trade.

Serratos, who is dedicated to taking care of the children of friends and neighbors, said that without the money they send them, the four sisters who remain in Tepatitlán would not be able to cover the expenses that their mother’s illness implies, much less give her the comforts that today they can offer you.

“We also help her, but the money from there does go a long way. If they didn’t help us it would be more difficult to get ahead”, admitted Carmen.

temporary migration

Oscar Lomeli Hernandezin charge of Economic Promotion of Tepatitlán, explained that in this city migration to the United States is no longer a life project, unlike in the past.

Now, citizens go to work in that country on a temporary basis to pay off debts, acquire properties or to raise money to start a small business.

“In recent years, the so-called migrant investment has been triggered a little. There are migrants who have restaurants and begin to generate an economic income (with their business) managed by relatives”, commented the official.

survive in pandemic

The huge remittances received in 2020, as well as this 2021, surprised even the experts, since at first it was estimated that, due to the economic weakness throughout the world, jobs would be lost and, therefore, the volume of shipments would fall .

Jesús Muñoz and María de Jesús Lara have been married for almost 58 years and it has been almost four decades since their son and one of their daughters immigrated to the United States.

Although the toughest period of isolation due to the pandemic was difficult, both were able to survive thanks to the support of their children, who did not stop sending money despite the complex circumstances.

“It was the same, it was no more or less, we do not resent the pandemic in that sense because they are on the lookout and they are always sending us money”, affirmed the couple.

Today, with the money that their children send, they can buy medicine and food. Without that support they would not have survived the time when he lost his job.

“Sometimes they send us more, sometimes less. We never make a budget, but right now we use the remittances for our illnesses, to eat. We depend on our familyMunoz acknowledged.

The other part of his maintenance is in charge of the other three children who remain in Mexico.

A month ago, the septuagenarian couple opened a small house just for them that was bought with the dollars that come from the United States.

They left the countryside to live in the city so that their family could be close by in case one of them falls ill, while they continue to enjoy a dignified old age thanks to the support of their children.