Employment, overseas migration, and social change in Uganda

Abstract

Globally, close to 272 million people are international migrants living and employed outside their countries of birth. More than 628,905 Ugandan nationals stay and work abroad and majority of the Ugandan nationals migrated to African countries, followed by European countries, North America, and the least migrated to Latin America and the Caribbean region. The aim of the study was to examine the effect of Ugandans working abroad (employment) on the migrant remittance inflows (overseas migration and social change) in Uganda. A descriptive survey design was used with secondary data and a regression analysis. The study indicated that despite the growing number of Ugandan nationals employed abroad, they have no significant impact on social change in the country although the remittances have supported families to meet their basic needs such as rent, food, hospital bills, and support families to set up small businesses and school fees. For instance, it discovered that growth in the number of Ugandan nationals employed abroad had no significant effect on the remittance share to the gross domestic product (GDP). Similarly, the study noted that there is no steady growth in remittance inflows given the persistent growth in the Ugandan emigrants for employment in different countries. The study recommended that while Ugandan government has made several labor exportation agreements with some countries especially in the Arab states, Ugandans employed are still exploited especially in terms of salary, which consequently affects social change back home. The government should address these barriers and the absence of sufficient data on Ugandans who migrate abroad for employment. The Ministry of Gender should encourage the labor exportation agencies in the country to share the information on Ugandans exported for work.