Macedonia receives an estimated 10% of its annual GDP in private cash remittances sent to help poor households. However, there is currently no government policy to channel this potential into productive use and the poverty rate remains high at 27%. Furthermore, only 9% of households receive formal government social assistance. A team of local researchers investigates the impact of cash remittances on health and poverty indicators and the impact a remittances voucher policy for social protection would have. The team uses a conditional mixed-process estimator and an ex-ante simulator to analyze data from the 2008 DotM Remittance Survey. The researchers find that remittances serve as an informal source of social protection in Macedonia and that a voucher system to formalize remittances as social protection would improve the population’s health while also reducing poverty, particularly amongst the most vulnerable groups.
Find out more about the research methods, findings and policy recommendations in the following PEP publications:
