Nearly 10% of the Philippine GDP was boosted by OFWs living abroad in 2017. The amount is dependent on remittances, which peaked in 2012 at $21 billion. However, it is only partially accurate to say that contract workers sent that much money home.

A big part is also played by emigrants’ money. Many people feel compelled to send money from abroad back into the Philippine economy.

List of Remittance Impacts in the Philippines

Investments

Migration and remittances can promote development through household spending as well as investments in real estate and entrepreneurship with the correct regulations in place. The Philippines has a huge potential for development as one of the top beneficiaries of remittances worldwide.

This chapter investigates the relationships between investment, remittances, and migration in the Philippines and considers how investment policies, financial services, and financial literacy education could contribute to the achievement of that potential.

It investigates the relationship between and management of remittances and business and property ownership as well as the extent to which return migrants are making profitable investments. Additionally, it details how bank accounts give households access to the official banking system and how effectively financial literacy programs have reached them.

Obligation

Remittances from OFw have been essential for their family’s ability to survive. Various jobs in six different countries during a span of 13 to 20 years, primarily in the Middle East.

OFWs struggled with contracts that employers would change or invalidate for most of that time. His pay would thus be delayed for weeks at a time, but he would still need to send money home. “Taking out a loan from a fellow Filipino employee at another business to support the requirements of the family in the Philippines.

According to Migrante International, the largest migrant worker advocacy organization in the Philippines, this issue’s case is not unusual. Caseworker Mic Catuira Catuira. He claimed that the majority of Filipinos who travel abroad for jobs leave behind dependents.

“It’s almost impossible for Filipinos to put their family’s needs above their own. Most of them would forego taking out loans with high-interest rates, which may reach 30%, according to Catuira.

Despite having dismal luck with contracts, OFWs manage to make the most of their skills by choosing from a variety of possibilities, such as high-demand skilled labor employment in Canada or Australia, two nations that provide routes to permanent residence.

Retirement

Families of OFws, including parents and siblings, reside in the country. But OFWs have saved money in a nest egg (savings account) in anticipation of spending a portion of their retirement in the Philippines. In Manila and an adjacent region, they primarily own rental homes. Deposits the more than $1,000 in rent that he receives into a local bank account.

It remains there. so that they will have money to spend when they get home. Moreover, they bring too much money from the sacrifices they made.

Researchers assume that remittances came from émigrés because statistics from the Philippines Central Bank demonstrate that they do so overwhelmingly from other countries. However, according to recent statements from the Central Bank, several banks, notably those in the Middle East, clear remittances through their headquarters in the United States. In the Middle East, there are more than two million contractors.

Experts estimate that on average, these workers contribute $300 to $500 each month to their close relatives. Their monthly salary is more than half of that.

Cultural Concept

Rodrigo Garcia does policy research for the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, which keeps track of Filipinos who move to foreign nations. He claimed that in the Philippines, remittances are motivated by cultural beliefs.

“Once you get there, it’s considered, especially by your extended family, that you have to provide. That is, in fact, the situation. Garcia responded, “You have to give something, or else those loved ones of yours would think not less of you but they’ll think something’s wrong with them.

Garcia claimed that somewhat more than half of the more than nine million Filipinos living abroad have emigrated. And he claimed that compared to contract workers, who typically send money home once a month, their remittance pattern is more erratic.

Please read: LIST OF BENEFITS FOR OFWS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Conclusion

While providing for their families through remittances, OFWs assist in loosening up tight labor markets in their host nations. Workers have been aided in navigating the financial and job challenges brought on by the COVID-19 (coronavirus illness 2019) epidemic through inclusive social protection policies. Such policies must be maintained since they have an impact on the entire world through remittances, according to Michal Rutkowski, the World Bank’s global director for social protection and jobs.

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