Mother’s Day boosts May remittances as Mexicans send money home to mom

By the end of the month, Mexicans will send millions of remittance payments home from the U.S., likely more than any other month this year. May is usually the month with the highest volume of remittances, even beating out December and the Christmas holidays, possibly due to the “Mother’s Day effect.”

A recent survey of 58 users of Zapp, a platform to send money via WhatsApp particularly targeting Mexican immigrants in the United States, revealed that about 67% of respondents make a special transfer to their mother on May 10, the day when Mother’s Day is celebrated in Mexico.

Zapp reported that, on average, users send $360 USD to their mothers on this day.

According to BBVA Research’s Migration and Remittances Observatory, remittances are often used for savings, everyday expenses, or for a celebration honoring mothers, aunts, sisters or grandmothers.

Meanwhile, Zapp’s survey found that 79% of respondents send money directly to their mothers, while the rest do so through other relatives including sisters (30%), children (30%), or deliver it in person (10%). About 31% said they send money so that they can spend it however they wish. Others say it’s for medicine (19%), food (13%), or simply to buy something nice (15%).

Between 2019 and 2023, the month of May saw 6.5% more remittances than the adjacent months of April and June, possibly explained by the Mother’s Day effect.