Latin American and Caribbean migrants have modestly improved their economic situations since the 2008-09 recession and the remittances they send to their homelands have increased by 12 percent, according to a new study.

But one in three of these migrants remains in a “vulnerable” financial position, according to the study released last week by the Inter-American Dialogue and the Multilateral Investment Fund of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, which commissioned the research.

And their remittances — economic lifelines to families in many Latin American and Caribbean countries and significant contributors to their economies — still don’t approach the levels of peak years from 2003 to 2007.

“Four years after the recession, the material circumstances of migrants is modest — they aren’t great, but they aren’t bad,” said Manuel Orozco, senior Inter-American Dialogue fellow and the main author of the study, “Economic Status and Remittance Behavior Among Latin American and Caribbean Migrants in the Post-Recession Period.”

Only 20 percent of migrants, for example, said they felt “confident” they could come up with $2,000 for an unexpected expense.

Approximately one in three Latin American households has a family member living abroad, and about 70 percent of all migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean send money home. Collectively, remittances added up to $61 billion in 2012.