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Samoan Youth’s Experience and Capacities in Supporting Family Remittances: COVID-19 as a Case Study

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Dissertation(1.49 MB)

Date

2023

Authors

Supervisor

Le De, Loic
M Uasike Allen, Jean

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Master of Disaster Risk Management and Development

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Publisher

Auckland University of Technology

Abstract

Remittances are the money and goods sent by migrants to their home country. They are essential to support people’s livelihoods daily and can be critical during disasters. In 2020, the COVID-19 Pandemic was declared and impacted most countries worldwide. For the first time in modern history, a disaster occurred across the world simultaneously: remittance senders and remittance receivers were both affected economically. While there has been extensive research on remittances, little research has focused on those who remit to families abroad during disasters, and there is even more scarce literature that draws attention to the experiences of youth who support their families in sending remittances. Youth are often perceived to be passive victims and vulnerable to the negative impacts of disasters. However, youth are resourceful and often display capacities to overcome disasters. This study focused on Samoan youth with the aim to privilege their voices and gain a greater understanding of the role they played in supporting family remittances. More specifically, this research aimed to unpack the factors influencing youth’s decision to support family remittances during COVID-19. The chosen methodology used a qualitative descriptive approach and constructivist paradigm, aligning with the Talanoa method. Six participants from two schools took part in the Talanoa, which was conducted between March and April 2022. The findings indicate that Samoan youth decisions to support family remittances were influenced by the stories and relationships between their parents and kin in Samoa. The findings highlight a relational va within intergenerational households between Samoan youth and their parents that welcome healthy negotiation. The study shows that Samoan youth also faced different challenges in supporting their families to send remittances. Samoan females take on the roles of their siblings to keep the family dynamic going. Some Samoan youth had to seek employment to support their families. Samoan youth behaviour was largely shaped by the reciprocity to their parents that underpinned an extension of their tautua (service) to their relatives.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10292/16324

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Masters Dissertations