In a second-story storefront in an Artesia shopping mall, Andrea Luchavez slid $500 in cash beneath a cashier’s window to a teller who would wire the funds to her children and mother in the Philippines.
It was $300 less than what Luchavez sent every month, before the coronavirus paralyzed Southern California and the world, putting millions out of work, including her husband, and paring back the hours of those who, like her, managed to keep their jobs.
Each year, immigrants such as Luchavez collectively send hundreds of billions of dollars from the countries where they work to those they call home. These remittances are a lifeline for individual families and some national economies, accounting for a fifth of El Salvador’s and Honduras’ gross domestic product, and more than a third of Haiti’s.
But the COVID-19 pandemic, which has wiped out service industry and construction jobs commonly held by immigrants, will sharply curtail their ability to remit money, according to a report published Wednesday by the World Bank. Remittances will fall by 20%, from $554 billion in 2019 to an expected $445 billion this year, the report said.
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