Socio-Economic cotribution of foreign employment (A case study of Siddhipur VDC, Lalitpur district)
Date
2010
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Migration of people from one place to another is a usual phenomenon since the
beginning of human civilization. The migration in the beginning was for the sake of
food and exploring new places for security purpose. But gradually the migration took
the shape in diverse forms and now has become a very essential and common in each
and every corner of the world.
Three key factors are driving migration and will continue to fuel this kind of
movement for many years. They are i) the "pull" of changing demographics and
labour market needs in many industrialized countries; ii) the "push" of population,
unemployment and crisis pressures in less developed countries; and iii) established
inter-country networks based on family, culture and history.
Migration and foreign employment has become a way of life to many educated youth
of the country. The number of people migrated for foreign employment in Nepal, till
mid- March 2009 is recorded as 1,432,224. The migration has concentrated in the
Gulf countries (more than 65.14%) and maximum being in Malaysia (31.82%).
Though the foreign employment in Nepal is a decades old issue, there is no authentic
statistics in terms of number involved in it. Beside that there is serious lack of data
regarding real contribution of remittance in the national and local community level
and lacks proper information relating to the utilization of remittance and its impact on
socio-economic condition of the household and community at the origin of foreign
migration. And the facts regarding the changes brought in the gender role and
empowerment of migrant's wives due to the foreign employment is little known.
There is lack of individual level information of the dependents of the foreign
employee in terms of added responsibility and assumption of changed role. Therefore,
this study on Socio-economic Contribution of Foreign Employment - A Case
Study of Siddhipur VDC, Lalitpur District, was carried out with the general
objective of this study is to analyze and examine the socio-economic consequences of
foreign employment on the national economy and household level. The followings are
the specific objectives of the study.
o to assess economic contribution of foreign employment on national and
household level;
o to analyze the changes in the gender role; and
o to study the socio-economic empowerment of the migrant's wives.
To fulfill the above mentioned objectives, as a methodology of the study, both
primary and secondary data and information are considered. Standard questionnaire
was prepared and interviews were conducted in Siddhipur VDC. A data collection
technique was chosen in accordance with the level of understanding likely to arise
from their use. For analyzing contribution of foreign employment (Remittance) on
National economy, secondary information was reviewed. Collected data were
stratified, tabulated and analyzed in appropriate and purposive ways. A computerized
SPSS program was used to show the interrelation between remittance and national
economic growth using regression analysis.
The world scenario shows that, international migrant remittances have become an
important source of external finance in developing countries. Remittances had
generated a positive effect on the economy through various channels such as savings,
investment, growth, consumption, and poverty and income distribution. At the
national level, remittances had contributed significantly to the GDP.
At the community level, remittances had created multiplier effects in domestic
economy, producing employment opportunities and spurring new economic and social
infrastructures and services, especially where effective structures and institutions have
been set up to pool and direct remittances. The poverty reducing and income
distribution effect of remittances is also significant.
In many countries, a large portion of remittances are invested in real estate,
purchasing houses, or other investments. Remittances had also fuelled inflation,
disadvantage the tradable sector by appreciating the real exchange rate, and reduce
labour market participation rates as receiving households opt to live off of migrant's
transfers rather than by working. Moreover, remittance's contribution to growth and
poverty had reduced the incentives for implementing sound macroeconomic policy or
to institute any needed structural reforms.
In Nepal, income from remittance has increased to Rs. 188.0 billions during mid Maymid
June
2008.
It is widely
believed
that
official
records for
the remittance
economy
represent
just
the
tip of
the
iceberg;
particularly
as
most
remittances
are
transferred
informally.
The
official
record shows
a dramatic
increment
in
the
incoming
remittances.
Despite
the
huge
trade
deficit,
the country
is
having
surplus
in the current
account
because
of the
growing
remittances.
The
data
gives
the
glimpse of GDP
from
the
year
2000/01
till
2008/09 and
the
corresponding
remittance
received.
It was
found that,
during
the
year
2000/01
share of remittance
in GDP was 2.22%. This share reached
to
17.04% percent
in
2007/08
and
in
2008/09
it
has reached
20%.
On
an
average,
the
share
of
remittance
to GDP
was 11.21
percent
during
the
review
period
from
2000
to
2009.
World Human
Development
Report, 2009
claims
that, relative
size
of
remittance
inflows
as percentage
of GDP
is
15.5%
Three
regressions
were
run in SPSS programme
to
examine
the
contribution
of
remittance
to
GDP.
It shows
that,
remittance
income
and EAP
appear
to be the most
relevant
variables
to
raise
real
GDP
in
Nepal.
The
GFCF
and other items
have
also
significant
impact
on
increasing
real
GDP
in
Nepal.
Similarly,
this study
also
focused
on
the
contribution
of the out migration
/ foreign
employment
at
the
household
level.
For
the
purpose, Siddhipur
Village
Development
Committee
(VDC)
has
been chosen to quantify
the exact
contribution
of foreign
employment
on
the
household
income,
changes
in
the
gender
role,
and socioeconomic
empowerment.
Physical
development
has
been one
of
the
positive
outcomes
of
the
migration
(foreign
employment) in Siddhipur VDC. Behavioral changes are slow to come by and
usually take a generation or more to become visible. Foreign employment has helped
to increase the economic conditions of the people of the Siddhipur village. It was
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observed that, remittance money is spent in maintenance of houses, construction of
new buildings and purchase of land. All these investments are considered
unproductive investment in economic terms.
Social impact of migration could be considered indirect impact of migration. Such
impact can be seen in the women groups of the family. The absence of husband, not
only cause hardship to the women, it also bought opportunities. As a problem among
the migrant's wife, loneliness was more serious than anything else.
The study had also explored the changes in role of women folks in the country of
origin due to husband going abroad for foreign employment. It was observed that
majority of the husband's responsibility like assisting in harvesting, household cash
management, representing social organizations etc. shifted to the wife of the migrants
after husband went abroad.
The study further focused on the socio-economic empowerment of the migrant's
wives in the Siddhipur VDC. The four key elements of empowerment - i) Access to
information; ii) Awareness about the basic rights; iii) Efforts made for capacity
building; and iv) Decision making were assessed in the process of the studied.
To conclude, remittances had generated a positive effect on the economy through
various channels such as savings, investment, growth, consumption, and poverty and
income distribution. Though, it has positive impact, its major contribution is visible at
the household and community level only. It has not created socio-economic impact
and long term development of the country due to lack of strategic planning for the
utilization of remittance. For the purpose, policies and plans based on updated
information on migration are required.
Description
Keywords
Socio-Economic, Foreign employment