From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

5 THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM TRADINGFor poor people, migration inevitably brings costs as well as benefits,including the personal cost of leaving home and country, and thehigher risk of abuse in the workplace, especially when the migrant is inthe country illegally and lacks recourse to the law.Women make up just over half of all migrants. They face greaterrisks and threats than men, but they also have the chance to gaineconomic independence. Women whose partners migrate are alsomore independent, typically much more likely to open their own bankaccounts, register land or housing in their own names, or look fortheir own sources of income. Women migrants tend to send moremoney back to their families (Bangladeshi women send home anaverage of 72 per cent of their salaries) and, when at the receiving end,tend to spend more of it on health and education. 89Concerns surround the ‘brain drain’ of key workers such as doctorsand nurses: at least 12 per cent of Indian doctors work in the UK, andJamaica and Grenada have to train five doctors for every one thatstays. 90 Teachers and nurses have a right to migrate, like anyone else,but people in poor countries also have a right to expect professionalstrained with public money to stay and work in their home country fora number of years after graduation.Most public debate on migration is over the costs and benefits tothe recipient country, rather than to the country of origin. Here thereis a gulf between evidence and public perception, and betweeneconomics and politics. Studies suggest that, without immigration,the Spanish economy would have stagnated over the past five years,and in 2005 immigrants paid in €5bn more in taxes than they receivedin services: 91 they are most definitely not the parasites of popularprejudice. Spain’s experience is widely shared. Numerous economicstudies show that migrants add to the demand for goods and services,introduce new ideas and skills, and do not drain social service spending.Instead, they are among the most dynamic members of society and areunlikely to live on welfare when they could be earning more by working.Studies in the UK,Australia,and elsewhere show significant net paymentsto the state from migrants. 92Yet popular sentiment in some recipient countries is increasinglyanti-immigrant and constitutes the main barrier to making migrationwork for development. US academic Lant Pritchett has identified a337