At home and away : expanding job opportunities for Pacific Islanders through labour mobility / prepared by a team led by Manjula Luthria

This report suggests that giving unskilled workers from the Pacific Islands access to seasonal employment in neighbouring developed economy labour markets is essential to the future development of the region. The report's main purpose is to examine the economic arguments - analytically and empirically - in favour of greater labour mobility, by addressing three fundamental questions: (1) what is the extent of demographic pressure facing the Pacific; (2) what has been the development impact of remittances on migrant-sending households and communities; (3) is it possible to design migration programs that balance the benefits of migration with the concerns of sending and receiving countries? Chapters cover the challenge of population growth; the economic benefits of remittances; and bilateral worker schemes.