Remittance income and social resilience among migrant households in rural Bangladesh /Mohammad Jalal Uddin Sikder, Vaughan Higgins, Peter Harry Ballis.
- New York, NY, U.S.A. : Palgrave Macmillan, (c)2017.
- 1 online resource (xxii, 281 pages).
Includes bibliographies and index.
Acknowledgments; Contents; Abbreviations; List of Figures; List of Images; List of Maps; List of Tables; 1: Introduction: Migration, Remittances, and the Pursuit of Livelihood; Introduction; Language of Remittances; Research Data; Selection of Villages; Methods of Data Collection; Structure of the Book; Bibliography; 2: Remittances: From Development Impacts to Social Resilience; Introduction; Amount of Remittance Transfers; Development Impact of Remittances at a National Level; Impact of Remittances at the Community and Family Level; Alleviation of Poverty and Inequality Changing Agrarian Patterns Household Income, Consumption, and Investment; Understanding Social Resilience; Remittances and Social Resilience; Conclusion; Bibliography; 3: Migrant Households, Migration, and Remittances; Introduction; Characteristics of Migrant Households; Household Type, Size, and Age Composition; Income Earners, Household Income, and Sources of Income; Education Levels in Migrant Households; Land Ownership; Pattern of Migration Experiences; Number of Migrants; Years of Migration; Migration Networks; Deciding to Migrate; Place of Destination and Types of Work Reasons Given for Migrating Nature of Remittances and Patterns of Remitting; Frequency of Remittances; Amounts Remitted; Conclusion; Bibliography; 4: Remittances and Livelihood Strategies: Improving Household Life Chances; Introduction; Consumption of Food, Clothing, and Goods; Ensuring Food Security; Clothing; Household Goods; Household Construction and Improvements; Education Opportunities; Conclusion; Bibliography; 5: Remittances and Livelihood Diversification: Building Resilient Household Economies; Introduction; Remittance Opportunities in Migrant Households Agriculture-Based Livelihood Purchasing and Rearing Cattle; Housing Land and Construction; Small-Business Opportunities; Conclusion; Bibliography; 6: Uneven Geography of Remittances and Household Resilience; Introduction; The Remittance Cycle and Households; Case A: Ali Ullah Khandakar; Case B: Salma Khatun; Case C: Anowar Hossain; Case D: Md. Kalam Azad; Remittances and Inequality; Family Size and Household Expenses; Availability of Family Support; Under-Resourced Households; Family Illnesses; External Factors; Conclusion; Bibliography 7: Conclusion: Remittances and Household Social Resilience Policy Implications; Bibliography; Glossary; Bibliography; Index
This book examines how migrant remittances contribute to household social resilience in rural Bangladesh. Using a mixed methods approach, the authors show that remittances play a crucial role in enhancing the life chances and economic livelihoods of rural households, and that remittance income enables households to overcome immediate pressures, adapt to economic and environmental change, build economic and cultural capital, and provide greater certainty in planning for the future. However, the book also reveals that the social and economic benefits of remittances are not experienced equally by all households. Rural village households endure a precarious existence and the potentially positive outcomes of remittances can easily be undermined by a range of external and household-specific factors leading to few, if any, benefits in terms of household social resilience.