"In 2019, money sent by migrant workers back to low- and middle-income countries reached $554 billion, overtaking foreign direct investments, according to the World Bank. In the Philippines, one of the world’s most remittance-dependent economies, domestic workers—who are overwhelmingly female—account for a third of all overseas foreign workers who send money home."

"The pandemic’s impact on the remittance economy has been varied. Overall, the amount migrant workers sent home in 2020 remained relatively steady—dipping just 1.6% below 2019 levels. Some regions, however, including sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South Asia, and parts of Europe, saw more dramatic drops. There’s less detailed information about the countries where these remittances originate, though the World Bank reports that the largest amounts last year came from the U.S., followed by the UAE and Saudi Arabia. And domestic workers in the Persian Gulf countries in particular have been impacted by broad lockdowns that have, in many cases, made it difficult to get to money-transfer agents to send payments home, say experts."