Salvadoran janitors fight for better wages, supporting families here and abroad

Apr 22, 2024
Immigrants from El Salvador clustered in major cities often work demanding, low-paying jobs that are hard to fill — like janitors.
Nuria Gomez de Gonzalez from El Salvador marches in downtown Houston for better wages and hours for local janitors like her.
Elizabeth Trovall/Marketplace

Remittances grew again in 2023

Dec 19, 2023
Migrants around the world sent nearly $670 billion back to family members in their home countries. For some countries, remittances make up a quarter to a half of GDP.
A major reason remittances have grown in the past few years is that the U.S. economy has fared better since the onset of the pandemic compared to other countries.
Eva Marie Uzcategui/AFP via Getty Images

It's hard to send earthquake relief remittances to Syria

Feb 13, 2023
The Treasury Department has temporarily OK'd relief transactions. But most major money transfer companies won’t remit aid from the U.S. to Syria.
Syria has been under U.S. sanctions for years. That makes sending money there difficult. Above, a family from Kobane, Syria, takes refuge in Turkey after last week's earthquake.
Mehmet Kacmaz/Getty Images

Ukrainians in the U.S. have found new ways to send money to loved ones back home

Aug 22, 2022
But remittances have actually fallen as the war has dragged on.
Western Union is now allowing money sent to Ukraine to be picked up in neighboring countries. But because of steep costs, some Ukrainians abroad have found alternatives to usual remittance services.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Ukrainians in the U.S. struggle to send money home as war rages

Mar 7, 2022
In a typical year, they send more than $500 million to family and friends. Now, it's not easy.
The Russian invasion has complicated the process of sending remittances to Ukraine through money transfer companies like Western Union.
Gary Gershoff/WireImage via Getty Images

Pandemic remittances have rebounded. Can that last?

Nov 30, 2020
Immigrants from Mexico and the Dominican Republic have been sending more money home than they were before the pandemic.
A woman waits outside a Western Union office in Havana, Cuba, on Oct. 28, 2020.
Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images

Remittances to some Latin American countries are booming

Sep 2, 2020
Latinx migrants tend to work in essential jobs. And their families back home could really use the support.
A woman counts cash outside a U.S. remittance collection agency in El Salvador. Remittances to that nation and others in the region declined sharply, then rebounded.
Marvin Recinos/AFP via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Drop in global remittances may worsen poverty

Jun 29, 2020
Migrants who have lost wages due to COVID-19 are struggling to send funds back home to their families in poorer countries.
A man in Miami sends a remittance to his mother in Cuba.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Sending money to another country is a lot easier than it used to be

Jun 21, 2019
The remittances business is getting crowded, and customers have more options.
A sign advertises the money transfer service Western Union, often used to send remittances, in Berlin Germany.
Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Facebook's crypto plan could disrupt remittance market

Jun 19, 2019
Facebook says sending money over its network will cost next to nothing. Remittance companies will be watching closely.
Facebook is leaping into the world of cryptocurrency with its own digital money, designed to let people save, send or spend money as easily as firing off text messages.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images