Financial Education for Migrants and their Families

Money remitted by international migrants is a major source of income for many countries around the world, exceeding all international development funds combined. Yet individual migrants and their families are often amongst the most vulnerable people in society, and many face significant barriers to the access and use of appropriate financial products. Recognising their importance and vulnerability, some home and host countries are taking measures to support migrant workers and their families and improve their financial literacy; in some cases this occurs within the framework of a national strategy for financial education. In order to increase the extent of such support and to improve international co-operation, this paper seeks to illustrate the key challenges and suggest possible ways forward. The lessons learned will be used by the OECD and its International Network on Financial Education to develop a checklist for policy makers in order to increase the coverage of high-quality financial education for migrants.