Supporting this, the United Nations (UN) include migrants and people in extreme poverty or facing insecure and informal work and incomes, among those who are at risk of experiencing the highest degree of socio-economic marginalisation and requiring specific attention in COVID-19 policy responses.23 An analysis by Hu on the impact of COVID-19 on Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities in the UK, 24 for example, shows that migrant workers, especially from BAME background, have been disproportionately hit by the economic effects of lockdown measures compared to white, non-migrants workers.25 Reduced or absent income for migrant workers inevitably translates to no or little availability of resources to send back home. 26 Economic projections for 2020 and 2021 estimate that global financial recovery will be uneven, uncertain, slow and subdued, with high risks of increased inequality and poverty.27 The prospect of a speedy return to employment thus does not look realistic for many migrant workers. Because of the impact of COVID-19 on the global economy and on migrant workers specifically,28 remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries are projected to fall in 2020 by almost 20%, which translates to a reduction of ca. 110 Billion US Dollars. The decrease is expected to be even larger for fragile and conflict countries. Besides unemployment, renegotiation of salaries and additional wage theft largely contribute to remittances’ decline. 29 The impact of remittances on receiving households The role played by remittances in the improvement of people’s lives is being increasingly recognised. 30 According to a 2018 report co-authored by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the WB, research demonstrates that “remittance receiving households spend more on housing, health, and education than those with no remittances.”31 Research also shows that remittances have a positive impact on children’s literacy rates and reduced child labour, as greater income allows otherwise credit-constrained households to invest more in children’s school attendance.32 Importantly, remittances make a positive difference to the improvement of living conditions and contribute to development opportunities of a larger number of individuals than just the direct recipients as “income gains are shared with family members and friends back home.”33 Besides the purchase of food, the payment of costs for education, healthcare and housing expenses, the earnings derived from remittances may also be invested in new income-generating activities. Research suggests that, whilst 23 United Nations, A UN framework for the immediate socio-economic response to COVID-19 (April 2020) https://www.icvanetwork.org/system/files/versions/UN-Framework-for-the-immediate-socio-economic-response-to-COVID-192.pdf 24 Hu, Y., Intersecting ethnic and native–migrant inequalities in the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK (Science Direct, July 2020) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0276562420300640?via%3Dihub 25 The research shows that migrant workers from BAME communities have lost their job in significantly higher percentages than white non-migrant workers. Migrant workers, either white or from BAME background, have also experienced greater income loss during lockdown than white-non migrant workers. 26 Sayeh, A., and Chami, R., Lifelines in Danger. The COVID-19 pandemic threatens to dry up a vital source of income for poor and fragile countries (International Monetary Fund, June 2020) https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2020/06/COVID19pandemic-impact-on-remittance-flows-sayeh.htm 27 Gophinath, G., Reopening from the Great Lockdown: Uneven and Uncertain Recovery (24 June 2020) https://blogs.imf.org/2020/06/24/reopening-from-the-great-lockdown-uneven-and-uncertain-recovery/ 28 International Labour Organisation, ILO Monitor: COVID-19 and the world of work. Fifth edition Updated estimates and analysis (30 June 2020) https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/briefingnote/wcms_749399.pdf 29 Subramaniam, G., Losing More Than Their Health – COVID-19 and Migrant Worker Wage Theft (Pt 4) (Institute for Human Rights and Business 31 July 2020) https://www.ihrb.org/focus-areas/migrant-workers/covid19-migrant-workers-wagetheft 30 Cornish, L., Data shows remittances and development are increasingly linked (22 June 2020) https://www.devex.com/news/datashows-remittances-and-development-are-increasingly-linked-92988 31 Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, Migration and Remittances for Development in Asia (May 2018) https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/419611/migration-remittances-development-asia.pdf 32 See for example, Schapiro, K.A., Migration and Educational Outcomes of Children Human Development, UNDP (Research Paper 2009) No. 57. It is important to bear in mind that effects are always context dependent and other factors affect the decision of parents to send their children to school. 33 Ratha, D., Leveraging Migration and Remittances for Development, (n.d.) UN Chronicle https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/leveraging-migration-and-remittances-development 4