800 millions of people around the world live off the money that they get from their family members who work abroad. It means that 1 out of 7 people is financially assisted by a working migrant from his family, as UN statistics show, Finance.ua reported.

Every seventh person in the world lives off the money send by a labour migrant

In 2017 200 million labour migrants transferred USD480 millions to their families that live in developing countries.

This sum of money is twice as much as in 2007, and it’s 3 times more than the foreign funding for development for these countries, UN message pointed out.

There are nearly 250 million international migrants in the world. On average, the majority of working migrants send up to $300 to their family members back home several times a year.

This sum amounts to about 60% of regular monthly wage in developing countries.

The money earned by family members who work abroad became an essential survival support for many people living in the third world countries.

Sometimes economic crisis, harvest or cattle losses and other hardships call for more financial support than people require regularly. So the migrants have to work harder to send more money home.

About 75% of the money families get from labour migrants is spent on food, medication, education and other fees.

The remaining 25% is invested in a business or just saved up.

Half of the people who receive the money reside in rural areas, where 75% of people living below poverty line live.

Ukrainian labour migrants

Ukraine is one of the countries where many people go abroad to earn money. Most Ukrainians work in Russia, as wages there are double the size for similar positions. Over 1 million citizens of Ukraine work in Poland. These two countries host the majority of Ukrainian labourers (“zarobitchan” as they are called in Ukraine). Every 30 seconds one citizen of Ukraine leaves the country to work abroad, sources state.

Low wages are the main reason why Ukrainians seek work abroad. Currently the official statistics states that the average wage in Ukraine has risen up to USD 323 a month. However, locals complain that even this seemingly low figure is not achievable for the majority of workers.

The reason why statistics is not correct is in the methodology of calculations. Only companies that have 10 or more employees are included in the official wage statistics. Thus, small businesses that often pay the minimum wage ($120 a month) are not in the picture.

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