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The Canada-Caribbean Remittance Corridor
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Table 22. Per Capita Remittances by Quintile, 2006 (in Jamaican Dollars with US$ equivalent in parenthesis) Quintile Poorest 2 3 4 5 All Quintiles (average)
N
Money Only
Goods Only
111 161 195 268 474 1,209
J$15,221 (US$212) J$18,943 (US$264) J$28,205 (US$393) J$27,123 (US$378) J$75,124 (US$1047) J$42,663 (US$595)
J$8,518 (US$119) J$9,978 (US$139) J$13,529 (US$189) J$13,759 (US$192) J$22,967 (US$320) J$16,580 (US$231)
Source: The Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions (PIOJ/STATIN 2006).
Frequency, Type, and Use of Remittances Received
Table 23. Remittances as a Share of Adult Equivalent Expenditure, By Quintile, 2006
Evidence from BRCA survey work and past research suggests that remittance Remittance as recipients generally receive money each a Share of AE month,64 and also for special occasions Quintile N Expenditure such as weddings, birthdays, and emerPoorest 1,247 10 gencies. Goods, however, are most 2 1,257 9.8 often sent annually, when gifts, clothes, 3 1,257 11.1 shoes, and books may be among the 4 1,256 13.6 items. Some did receive goods weekly or 5 1,283 12.9 monthly, but such goods would generJamaica 6,300 12 ally be for daily needs and include foods such as rice, beans, oils, and sugar. Remittance recipients receiving Source: The Jamaica Survey of Living Conditions barrels must generally travel to the (PIOJ/STATIN 2006). Kingston docks to collect them. It is inconvenient and costly for them, because there is usually a charge. There is no charge to the recipient to collect money sent via MTOs. This is why remittances sent in monetary form are preferable to in-kind remittances,65 and probably helps explain why remittances in the form of goods are now sent far less frequently, and to relatively fewer remittance recipients. The amount of monetary remittances received varies widely among Jamaican remittance recipients and with the season. Past research suggests that the median amount per transaction is about Can$200, with the mean being higher at Can$395 (Simmons, Plaza, and others 2005). A 2005 FOCAL survey finds that remittance recipients do not generally receive more than US$250 on each occasion, and that most receive about US$100–161. Survey work by the study team and also past research suggest that recipients, of all income segments, use remittances for education, health, housing, purchase of farm equipment, 64. Simmons; Dade; JSLC 2006; study team’s interviews with remittance recipients. 65. BRCA Interviews with remittance recipients.