ABSTRACT
This chapter assesses the impact of the global economic recession on the employment and economic conditions of emigrants from Kerala. The sample includes only those households with emigrant (EMI) or a return emigrant (REM). About 54,000 employed EMIs lost their job and 37,000 additional EMIs became unemployed during the first half of 2009. The unemployed or those who lost their job are less than 3 per cent of the total number of EMIs. It is also instructive to compare the unemployment due to the recession with unemployment among these same EMIs in Kerala before emigration. While increase in unemployment during the recession is the principal focus of this chapter, transitions in the employment sector throw additional light on the impact of the recession on the migrant's employment status. The impact of the global recession on EMIs is not only through job losses and return emigration, but also through reduction in salaries or wages.
