--- title: "Social Remittances | International Economics" description: "Social remittances are the ideas, skills, and norms migrants send home, shaping development, behavior, and social change in International Economics." canonical: "https://fiveable.me/international-economics/key-terms/social-remittances" type: "key-term" subject: "International Economics" unit: "Unit 14" --- # Social Remittances | International Economics ## Definition Social remittances are the non-monetary ideas, skills, and social norms migrants send back to their home communities. In International Economics, they show how migration changes development beyond cash transfers. ## What It Is Social remittances are the non-money transfers that move through migration, things like knowledge, habits, work practices, political attitudes, and social norms. In International Economics, the term helps explain why migration affects a home country even when no cash is being sent. A migrant who returns home after studying or working abroad may bring back new ways to handle health, schooling, business, or local government. That could be as simple as using a safer sanitation practice, or as broad as pushing for girls' education or more transparent civic participation. The point is that the transfer is social, not financial. These transfers usually happen through people and networks, not through banks or formal markets. A migrant talks with family, trains coworkers, starts a business, joins a community group, or shares expectations about what is normal or possible. That is why social remittances often travel alongside economic remittances, but they affect different parts of development. In this subject, social remittances matter because migration is not just about labor supply and wages. It also changes human capital, local behavior, and institutions in sending communities. A village with many returned migrants may see new aspirations, more demand for schooling, stronger health awareness, or new ideas about gender roles and leadership. The effect is not always the same everywhere. The impact depends on the migrant's education, what they experienced abroad, and whether the home community is open to new ideas. In a place with strong diaspora networks, these ideas can spread faster because migrants stay connected and keep sharing practices over time. Do not mix up social remittances with economic remittances. Economic remittances are money sent home. Social remittances are the knowledge and norms that can change how that money gets used and how the community develops afterward. ## Why It Matters Social remittances matter in International Economics because they connect migration to development in a deeper way than income alone. When you study remittances, it is easy to focus only on household spending, but social remittances show how migration can change behavior, institutions, and long-run growth patterns in the sending country. This term also helps you explain why the same flow of migrants can produce very different results across places. One community might use new ideas to improve schooling, public health, or entrepreneurship. Another might resist outside norms, which means the same migration experience has a smaller effect. That makes social remittances a useful concept for comparing cases instead of treating migration as one simple story. The term also connects to broader debates about brain drain and brain gain. When educated migrants return or stay connected to home, they may share skills and expectations that raise human capital at home, even if they are working abroad. That is why the concept shows up in discussions of development, diaspora networks, and migration policy, not just in remittance statistics. ## Connections ### Economic remittances Economic remittances are the cash transfers migrants send to family or communities. Social remittances are different because they are about ideas, norms, and skills, not money. The two often travel together, though, since cash can support education or business while new social norms change how people use that support. ### [diaspora networks](/international-economics/key-terms/diaspora-networks) Diaspora networks are the cross-border ties migrants keep with their home communities. Those networks are one of the main pathways for social remittances, because they let ideas, practices, and expectations keep moving back and forth after migration. Strong networks can spread new norms much faster than isolated migration can. ### Brain drain Brain drain focuses on the loss of educated workers from the home country. Social remittances complicate that story because even when skilled migrants leave, they may still send back useful knowledge, values, or professional habits. That means migration can drain labor while still contributing to development through non-money transfers. ### Brain gain Brain gain is the idea that migration can raise the overall stock of human capital through return migration, new skills, or stronger incentives to study. Social remittances fit here because returning migrants may bring home education norms, work practices, and civic ideas that improve local outcomes even before any return migration happens. ## On the AP Exam A quiz item or short response might ask you to identify whether a migrant's influence is economic or social. If the example says a returnee teaches better sanitation, encourages daughters' schooling, or introduces a new business practice, that is social remittances, not cash transfers. In a case study, trace the path of the idea, who carried it, and what changed in the home community. For example, if migrants abroad promote civic engagement or gender equality back home, explain how those norms spread through family ties, visits, messaging, or return migration. You may also be asked to compare social remittances with brain drain. The best move is to show that migration can reduce labor supply and still produce positive spillovers through knowledge and norms. Use the example details, not just the label. ## social remittances vs Economic remittances Economic remittances are money sent home, while social remittances are the ideas, skills, and norms that travel through migrant connections. A student can mix them up because both come from migration, but only one is a financial transfer. If the prompt mentions income, bills, or household spending, think economic remittances. If it mentions behavior, values, or practices, think social remittances. ## Key Takeaways - Social remittances are the non-monetary ideas, skills, and norms migrants send back to their home communities. - They matter in International Economics because migration changes development through more than just money transfers. - A migrant can bring back health practices, education expectations, business habits, or civic values that reshape local life. - These effects move through people and networks, especially family ties and diaspora connections. - Social remittances can support human capital growth, but the size of the effect depends on context and how open the home community is to change. ## FAQs ### What is social remittances in International Economics? Social remittances are the non-cash transfers of knowledge, skills, values, and norms that migrants send back to their home communities. In International Economics, the term explains how migration can change development patterns beyond money sent home. It shows up when migrants influence school choices, health behavior, business practices, or civic engagement. ### How are social remittances different from economic remittances? Economic remittances are financial transfers, like money sent to family for food, rent, education, or healthcare. Social remittances are the ideas and behaviors that move through migration, such as work habits, gender norms, or new attitudes toward education. The two often work together, but they are not the same thing. ### Can social remittances help a country develop? Yes, because they can raise human capital and change local behavior in ways that support development. For example, migrants may bring back better health practices, stronger support for education, or new business skills. The effect is not automatic, though, since it depends on the community, the migrant's experience, and how well the new ideas spread. ### How do social remittances connect to brain drain? Brain drain usually describes the loss of educated workers when they leave for jobs abroad. Social remittances show that migration can still send value back home even when workers are gone. Returning migrants or diaspora ties may transmit useful knowledge, norms, and professional habits that partially offset the loss. ## Related Study Guides - [14.3 Remittances and brain drain/gain](/international-economics/unit-14/remittances-brain-draingain/study-guide/ybAV50dYHsv43jIO) ## About This Document Canonical Fiveable pages are available as Markdown at the same path plus `.md`. - [llms.txt](https://fiveable.me/llms.txt): index of Fiveable's sections and URL patterns - [llms-full.txt](https://fiveable.me/llms-full.txt): complete subject and unit listing - [MCP server](https://fiveable.me/mcp): call Fiveable as tools instead of fetching pages (`https://fiveable.me/api/mcp`) - [MCP server for AP teachers](https://fiveable.me/mcp/teachers): a teacher's classes, assignments and AP-rubric grading (`https://fiveable.me/api/mcp/teacher`) ## Structured Data ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"LearningResource","@id":"https://fiveable.me/international-economics/key-terms/social-remittances#resource","name":"Social Remittances | International Economics","url":"https://fiveable.me/international-economics/key-terms/social-remittances","learningResourceType":"Concept explainer","educationalLevel":"AP® / High School","about":{"@id":"https://fiveable.me/international-economics/key-terms/social-remittances#term"},"audience":{"@type":"EducationalAudience","educationalRole":"student"},"dateModified":"2026-07-03T02:22:24.884Z","isPartOf":{"@type":"Collection","name":"International Economics Key Terms","url":"https://fiveable.me/international-economics/key-terms"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Fiveable","url":"https://fiveable.me"}},{"@type":"DefinedTerm","@id":"https://fiveable.me/international-economics/key-terms/social-remittances#term","name":"social remittances","description":"Social remittances are the non-monetary ideas, skills, and social norms migrants send back to their home communities. 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