The funds don't only support Lpez Aceves, a graphic designer in Mexico's southern Chiapas state -- they also go to support her five-year-old daughter and her grandmother. Never before have they found themselves without the extra help of remittances, like millions of other Mexican families.

When the money dried up, it came at the worst possible time -- Lpez Aceves' clients were also dwindling amid the pandemic and economic shutdown. "I don't have a lot of work right now," Lpez Aceves told CNN in a phone interview. "The truth is, the salary I make is not enough."

The money her mother sent had helped with food, savings, and paying for her daughter's education. With it, they "live okay," she said. But in the wake of the coronavirus, her mom can no longer afford to send money home.

Ninety-four percent of those transfers come from the US, according to a November 2018 report by the think tank Inter-American Dialogue.

"Remittances from the US are unfortunately a very important part of Mexico's economy, more for the most vulnerable part of the citizenship," Larry Rubin, President of the American Society of Mexico told CNN.

Lpez Aceves' mom lost her full-time cleaning job in March, and found herself without work for the first time in seven years. "If she didn't have some savings, she would have returned to Mexico," the daughter said. "And I was worried about myself, but also about my mother. She is alone up there with no one," she added. Her mother declined an interview with CNN.

As the pandemic swelled and lockdowns expanded, remittances have slowed back to normal rates in April and May, with nearly $2.9 billion and $3.4 billion respectively.

A global pause on remittances?

Remittances to El Salvador, for example, dropped 40% in April 2020, compared to the same month last year, according to the country's central bank.

"The ongoing economic recession caused by Covid-19 is taking a severe toll on the ability to send money home and makes it all the more vital that we shorten the time to recovery for advanced economies," said World Bank Group President David Malpass in a recent statement.

As unemployment skyrockets across Latin America, the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) is already worried about hunger in the region. "[Latin America] has seen an almost three-fold rise in the number of people requiring food assistance," WFP said in a statement at the end of June.

Lpez Aceves' mother has found a new part-time job. But she is not yet able to resume sending money home. So Lpez Aceves moved an hour away to look for work, leaving her daughter in the care of her sister, and hoping the change will help make ends meet.

"We tried to quarantine but I couldn't completely because the situation here in Mexico is different," she told CNN. "I have to go look for workto find a way to make money to help with the indispensable, which is food."

View original post here:

The world runs on remittances. Covid-19 could end that for many - CNN