Does remittances enhances household's living standard? Evidence from pre‐ and post‐Gulf crisis

Abstract

To explore “The effects of remittances on households’ standard of living and analyze the pre‐ and post‐Gulf crisis” for district Swat. The primary data is collected from 68 sample respondents through face‐to‐face interviews. The data is analyzed, and descriptive statistics are calculated for the selected variables, which are consumption, education, poverty, health, and socioeconomic status, that all represent the living standard of the household. A comparative analysis based on descriptive statistics was used to uncover the pre‐ and post‐Gulf crisis conditions of the families who are remittances recipients. The findings of this study reveal that remittances positively effect and encourage consumption, education, health as well as socioeconomic status. Remittances play a vital role in poverty alleviation. But, after the Gulf crisis, the flow of remittances declined, which negatively affect all the variables, except poverty which were improved for households. This study recommends the affordable availability of formal channels for remittances transferring. Additionally, the Gulf crisis‐effected migrants and their families have to be subsidized to encourage and keep them above the poverty line and lessen brain‐drain.