SPEAKER
Jason DeParle, Pulitzer Prize Finalist and Author of “A Good Provider is One Who Leaves: One Family and Migration in the 21st Century”
PANELISTS
William Gois, Regional Coordinator, Migrant Forum in Asia
Joe Martinez, Chief Executive Officer, CIERTO
Dr. Tasneem Siddiqui, Founding Chair, Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU)
MODERATOR
Lant Pritchett, Research Director of LaMP and a Development Economist
Workers are at the heart of labor mobility. While a significant amount of research and advocacy on the topic (including our own) focuses on impacts in receiving and sending countries, at its core labor mobility is about workers filling needed jobs, and how this impacts themselves and their families. Overwhelming evidence shows labor mobility to be among the most powerful tools for lifting individuals and households out of poverty. More than half of variability in income globally is explained by country of birth, implying that “there are not poor people but only people in poor places;” labor mobility offers a way out. However, employment abroad also presents a number of risks for workers, resulting in indebtedness and abuse and undermining the powerful potential of labor mobility to improve the lives of workers and their families.
In this event, LaMP Research Director Lant Pritchett interviewed author Jason DeParle, whose book A Good Provider is One Who Leaves: One Family and Migration in the 21st Century offers an intimate and nuanced look how labor mobility shaped the lives of one Filipino family. This conversation was followed by a panel discussion with migrant representatives and advocates, who discussed their experience of labor mobility and how they pursue more and better overseas employment opportunities for workers.
This event is the third in Labor Mobility Partnerships’ (LaMP’s) monthly event series on the case for labor mobility from the perspectives of key actors (receiving countries, sending countries, employers, workers, and ‘mobility industry’). Sign up for our newsletter to stay updated on future events!