Remittance is defined as a migrant worker sending money to their families in their homeland. The concept of remittance has been an interest in most recent years, especially concerning the Mexican peoples. In 2013, migrant workers sent about 68. 3 million dollars back home. That number is only a fraction of what makes up the total GDP of America. The majority of migrant Mexican peoples that reside in the United States take up jobs that require hard labor such as construction, housekeeping, and cooking. While doing all of this intense labor, they are payed less than the average minimum wage worker.
A large portion of these migrants work in the city of Los Angeles all for a fraction of what they are worth. So we ask ourselves why? Why do these people come to Los Angeles, one of the most money wealthy cities in America, to take on jobs that give them little pay just to send off to their families? In order to broaden our understanding of the negative and positive aspects of remittance, I have stepped into the cities of Boyle Heights and Downtown Los Angeles’ Olvera Street to interview a few of the people that practice this concept.
Let us start by describing the idea that draws people to Los Angeles. The most populous city in California has long been a melting pot of culture, entertainment, art, fashion, science, sports, technology, and ways of life for years. When one thinks about The City of Angels, they think about the fame and money that come along with being an actress or a model and are tempted by the idea that maybe, just maybe, they can get their hands on a portion of that money that is floating around the city.
There are the bright sunny beaches flooded with well-toned bodies, smiling faces, and a community that is more active than anywhere else. In addition to the money, fame, and beaches, the weather seems to be the most influential aspect as to why people choose to visit. With all of the components that make Los Angeles the fascinating city that it is, no one seems to stop and think about how it all got started. Originally home to the Chumash and Tongva Native American Tribes, the city was quite the opposite of what it is today. The tribes practiced techniques that preserved the land and recycled the earth.
They treated the land with respect and appreciation, until 1542, when the Spanish came over and claimed it as their own, marking the beginnings of what is now a center for cars, city buses, and pedestrians flooding the streets. Spanish governor Felipe de Neve officially founded the city on September 4th, 1791. Los Angeles embarked on a journey through being passed back and forth between Mexico and the United States. It became part of Mexico in 1821 after the Mexican War of Independence and in 1848, at the end of the Mexican-American war, was purchased back by the United States as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
Los Angeles remained a city heavily dominated by the Mexican culture. Due to Los Angeles being so close to the Mexican border and the results of the Mexican-American war, I was able to find an abundance of Mexican peoples that practice the concept of remittance. In speaking to many different individuals, I have found that normally, only one or two members of a family choose to come to Los Angeles. The average family size in a Mexican household is six people; the cost of living for six people is drastically larger than the cost of living for only one or two members.
As a consequence of sending less people, they are able to take the money and send it back to their families, where the value of the American Dollar is much higher in Mexico and they are able to get a better use out of the money. In conducting at home research, I found that within the Mexican traditions, family is one of the most, if not the most, important aspect of life. They follow the patriarchal family structure, which means that every member has an important role that they play.
They make sure to incorporate each person into their lives and the children never move too far way, and often times remain living at home for the duration of their lives. With families that remain so closely bonded with each other, it is clear that it is profoundly difficult to send their people to a foreign land and sacrifice their valued traditions, in order to have a better life. This is one of the many negative aspects of practicing remittance. Another unfavorable consequence of moving to the U. S. to send money is that the person who is coming here has to become fluent in the English language. It is uncommon in Mexico, especially in the mor re poor parts, to practice any form of the English language.
They would also have to do a lot of research on what life is like in the U. S. and how it differs from life in Mexico. One of the most challenging obstacles that I faced during my time interviewing people was the language barrier. It was difficult to go out into the field to try and ask questions when a majority of people didn’t even know what I was saying. Luckily, I was able to find a handful of people that spoke English enough to carry on a conversation with me. They told me that often times they have to act as a translator for people and even fill out applications for things like a government issued ID and social security card.
I can only imagine what it would be like to be placed into a foreign land with no one to rely on. With all of the overwhelming challenges that Mexican Migrant workers face, you would think that it would be too much trouble just to send their families an extra few dollars every week, but there are definitely some positive aspects to practicing this concept. For instance, one US dollar is worth about eighteen pesos and that would equate to about one taco, here in the US one taco costs about three dollars.
The average migrant worker makes on average about eight dollars an hour, at forty hours a week that is three hundred and twenty dollars per week. In Mexico, the minimum average paid worker makes anywhere between twelve and fifteen dollars a day, this is equivalent to about sixty to seventyfive dollars a week. This is not a proper amount of money to raise and support a family. In the end, this is why The Mexican peoples choose to sacrifice their family time and comfort, because they are ultimately improving the lives of their families in Mexico.