Money flows two ways between transnational families in Australia and India

Abstract

Changes in the patterns of migration, communication and the growing economic power of Asia have contributed to changes in remittance flows. Indians who migrated to Australia between the 1970s and 1990s sent money one way to their transnational family. For the migrants who arrived since 2001, money and communication go two ways between India and Australia. Money comes from families in India for education, and often for housing, business and with family reunion. This is because of an expanded middle class, the liberalization of foreign exchange restrictions, more frequent and affordable communications, together with the dominance of student and skilled migrants in Australia's migrant intake. Migration as settlement has been replaced by the increased mobility and circularity of current middle-income migration from Asia. Enumerating two-way family flows is a first step to gauging the economic value of migrant money to the source and destination countries.