THE HONDURAN EXPERIENCE IN MEASURING REMITTANCES THROUGH HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS Washington DC January 2008

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY AGENDA BACKGROUND THE PROJECT THE SURVEY RESULTS LESSONS LEARNED

THE PROJECT

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY BACKGROUND 2001: Collect data on remittances as source of income for households 2002: NSO from Central America join efforts to standardize the collection of data on remittances and migration 2005: Honduras presents the project titled “Migration and remittances in Central American countries.” 2006: IADB sponsors the project. First meeting to plan the surveys. Honduras includes the remittance module in the XXXIII EPHPM 2007: Presentation of Results

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY PARTICIPANTS Costa Rica Dominican Republic El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY PROJECT STATUS IN 2007 Costa Rica: Still processing Dominican Republic: Data collection stage El Salvador: Data collection stage Guatemala: Planning data collection in 2008 Honduras: Results published Nicaragua: Still processing Panama: Planning data collection in 2008

THE SURVEY

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY MAIN OBJECTIVE To measure international migration flows and the reception of remittances in Honduran households.

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES To measure the impact of migration flows and remittances on the Honduran economy To analyze households with members living abroad To identify causes and frequency of migration flows To analyze households who receive remittances To identify the frequency, amount and use of remittances

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY Rider survey on a permanent household survey Modules: Returns Remittances Emigration Through PHS: Immigration and internal migration METHODOLOGY

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY Other experiences (Census 2001, Living Standard Survey, PHS) International consulting Interview returnees Pilot survey METHODOLOGY

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY SAMPLE DESIGN

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY Stratified Two-stage PSU: Enumeration areas SSU: Compact Groups Systematic Selection with Random Start SAMPLE DESIGN

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY Returnees: last 10 years (at least one year of residence in host country) 2. International Migration: all cases. 3. Remittances: 12 months prior to the interview. REFERENCE PERIOD

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY RETURNEES

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY RETURNEES Population returned from abroad: 0.5%

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY HOST COUNTRY % United States Central America MexicoROW

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY ACTIVITY IN HOST COUNTRY Studying 9.7% Domestic help 3.6% Working and studying 1.3% Working 79.3% Nothing 5.1%

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY CAUSE OF RETURN %10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0%50.0%60.0% Family reasons Deported Other Health problems Came with parents Economic reasons Did not find a job End of school

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY EMIGRATION

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY EMIGRATION

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY HH with at least one member living abroad: 11.3% HH with a member planning to emigrate in the next 12 months: 8.2% Emigrants: 70% male 58% elementary school only EMIGRATION

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY EMIGRATION

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY REASON FOR EMIGRATION Other reasons 2.1% Minors to join family members 2.6% Family reasons 2.1% Study 2.3% Looking for a job 91.0%

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY HOST COUNTRY USA 91.4% Mexico 2.2 Canada 0.2% Spain 2.1% ROW 2.1% Central America 1.9%

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY CURRENT VISA STATUS Without visa TPS Resident Refugees Tourist visa Worker visa Naturalized citizen Student visa Other

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY REMITTANCES

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY % of household income 6.8% of GDP, % of GDP, 2006 CBH: US$ 2.6 billion, 2006 HH receiving remittances: 21% REMITTANCES

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY Remittances (cash and goods) in the last 12 months

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY FREQUENCY Quaterly 7.0% Bimonthly 8.2% From 4 to 6 months 5.2% From 7 to 11 months 5.3% Yearly 14.4% More than 12 months 6.4% Monthly 45.2% Less than One month 8.2%

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY Amount received in the last 12 months Percentage of HH

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY RECEPTION CHANNELS Private companies 39.6% 54.6% 0.5% 5.2% Bank transfersTransfers throughOther formal channels Informal channels

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY USES OF REMITTANCES

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY LESSONS LEARNED

MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES SURVEY LESSONS LEARNED 1. Big demand of information. 2. International consultants help strengthen analytical abilities of the national counterparts. 3. Redefine questions to be less intrusive. 4. Make the public aware of the nature of the survey. 5. The sample of the PHS is not designed for this purpose.

Horacio Lovo P.