Changing Patterns of Migration and Remittances in Ethiopia 2014-2018

Abstract

This paper reports on the changing patterns of migration and remittances in Ethiopia using a bespoke longitudinal survey of 1200 rural households. We shed light on changes in migration destinations, revealing the large scale of return migration between waves, prompted by increasing intra-ethnic conflict internally and restrictions of migration internationally to the Middle East. We highlight a decline in remittance receipt for households in our sample, but higher remittances on average for those households that continue to receive remittances. Finally, we explore descriptively changes in measures of household welfare revealing that on average living standards have fallen among all types of households, notably those with migrants in the second wave of our survey, despite a strongly held perception among all types of households that migration leads to improved incomes and to an improvement in the overall quality of life.