The International Herald Tribune covered a survey by the Inter-American Development Bank which was “conducted in Spanish from Feb. 9-23 with a sample of 5,000 interviews and a margin of error of 1 percentage point,”  found that in the last two years Latin American immigrants in the US have stopped sending money back home to their families.  The percentage dropped by 73% to 50%, a 23% decrease in 2 years.  Although remittances have increased from 2006 by $500 million dollars, it may not be long until the remittances decrease along with senders.  The survey found that immigrants are deciding to save their money instead of sending it back to their families because ,

“…life is becoming more difficult for them here (US) . Of those interviewed, 81 percent said it was harder to find a good-paying job. Almost 40 percent said they were earning less this year. The largest group of immigrants in the survey, 18 percent, worked in construction, which has been especially hard hit in the slowdown.”

The survey also found that the immigrants have been hit hard by the Bush administration cracking down on illegal immigrants by penalizing companies for hiring them, and also been affected by the economic trouble the US is experiencing.

Remittances are a vital source of income for many families in Latin America, as well as important to the  economies of Latin American countries.  Decreases in remittances could mean serious trouble for not only the families who may rely on them to survive, but also for the economies of these countries as less money will be available for circulation (less purchasing power on consumers).