| Abstract: | This study explores and suggests a methodological approach to the gender dimensions of remittances. It argues that remittances should be seen as a social process and examined in relation to (i) the sending side, (ii) the recipient side and (iii) gendered use of remittances by the households. Focusing on Indonesian domestic workers in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, and migrant households in Central Java, it explores the gender dimensions of remittance-sending, receiving, control and use, and their development implications. Despite their lower incomes, female domestic workers remit a greater share of their earnings than their male counterparts; they tend to remit to their mothers and sisters rather than to fathers, brothers and husbands. Close to half of the recipients exercise discretion over the use of remittances; female recipients tend to use remittances to invest in human capital and male recipients, in physical capital. |
