Remittances

 

Three questions were asked about remittances and other items sent to family members in Cuba.  The two questions on remittances indicate a little over half (53.6%) of Cuban-American households in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties send money to relatives in Cuba.

 

Do you or relatives send money to relatives in Cuba?

 

 

                

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Valid

1  YES

955

52.7

53.6

53.6
2  NO

826

45.6

46.4

100.0
Total

1781

98.3

100.0

 

Missing

3  DON'T KNOW / NO RESPONSE

30

1.7

 

 

Total

1811

100.0

 

 

 

 

 

Estimating the total amount of remittances sent by Cuban-Americans in Miami-Dade and Broward County

 

21% of respondents did not wish to say how much money was sent in 2003.  Information from the rest can be used to estimate the amount of funds sent (next table).

 

Over the last year in 2003, about how much money was sent?

 

 

 

 

 

 

                

Frequency

Percent

Valid Percent

Cumulative Percent

Valid

-1  does not send money to relatives in Cuba

826

45.6

57.5

57.5
0  sends money but not in 2003

15

.8

1.1

58.6
1  $300 or less

229

12.6

16.0

74.5
2  over $300 to $500

118

6.5

8.2

82.7
3  over $500 to $1000

121

6.7

8.4

91.2
4  over $1000

127

7.0

8.8

100.0
Total

1436

79.3

100.0

 

Missing

-2  did not wish to give this information

375

20.7

 

 

Total

1811

100.0

 

 

 

 

Including households that do not send money as zero, the average remittance per household in 2003 was $387.  According to the 2000 U.S. Census, there are 269,868 Cuban-American households in the two counties.  Multiplying by the average $387 remittance, we can estimate that $96,936,920 was sent from the two counties in 2003.

 

Applying the 95% confidence interval (single sample t-test), 95% of the time this survey would be repeated with the same population, the average would fall between $322 and $452 (corresponding to $81M and $113M).

This estimate of approximately $100 million is considerably lower than many estimates in the literature. We will be giving an analysis of this issue on May 4, 2004. Preliminary review of other estimates indicates that our estimate is closer to reality than those obtained in the other studies.

 

 

Do you or your relatives send items other than money to Cuba?  If so, what sorts of items?

 

 

Group $Q42  42. Items other than money sent

     (Value tabulated = 1)

 

                                                             Pct of  Pct of

Dichotomy label                          Name       Count  Responses  Cases

                                                                   (households)

MEDICINE                                 Q42_1        942     39.6     52.0

VITAMINS                                 Q42_2        106      4.4      5.8

CLOTHES                                  Q42_3        413     17.3     22.8

PERSONAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS                Q42_4         76      3.2      4.2

DIAPERS                                  Q42_5         20       .8      1.1

OTHER, SPECIFY                           Q42_6         69      2.9      3.8

NOTHING                                  Q42_7        754     31.7     41.6

                                                  -------    -----    -----

                                 Total responses     2380    100.0    131.4

 

0 missing cases;  1,811 valid cases

 

Medicine was the item most frequently sent.  52%% of households had sent medicine.