Leaving OFW children behind: Economic benefits vs social costs

MANILA, Philippines - While remittances from Filipinos living and working abroad remain robust, the ties that overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and their children have are slightly hanging by a thread. According to “Migration and Filipino Children Left Behind: A Literature Review," a working paper sponsored by United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), the Philippines is the major supplier of labor migrants in Asia to over 100 countries. “With this huge number of Filipino migrants (and still more) living the country temporarily (or permanently), a more pressing concern is with regard to children left behind," said Melanie Reyes, author of the paper and professor at the Miriam College Women and Gender Institute. Based on several studies done by non-governmental and government organizations, about nine million Filipino children under the age of 18 are left behind by one or both parents to work tentatively or live permanently abroad. Economic benefits The economic benefits of migration to families, communities, and the state are undeniably true. OFWs sent home $12.3 billion or about P615 billion in the first nine months of 2008, a 17.1 percent increase despite the global slowdown that economists warned may bite the local economy in 2009. Remittances — a key contributor to the Philippine economy — reached $1.3 billion or more than P65 billion in September alone, 16.9 percent higher than in 2007. Nearly 10 percent of the country’s 90 million people work overseas, with the money they send home equivalent to about 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. With remittances last year totaling to $14.45 billion or more than P722 billion, the government predicts that the 2008 remittances will hit $15.7 billion or almost P800 billion. Reyes said that in terms of investment in education, the money brought in by migrant parents increase the levels of educational attainments among their children, opening up more opportunities for their future. “Remittances do help improve the quality of life of the migrants and their families," she said. A huge percentage of the parents’ remittances go to tuition fees of their children, allowing them to enroll in private schools offering good quality education. The professor noted that other studies say remittances can benefit the child in terms of allowing access not only to leisure and recreation but also to cultural activities and contributing to higher achievements in school. Ensuring that other critical elements such as physical, mental, moral, spiritual and social aspects of living are present for the children is also considered as a benefit. Social costs However, even if Filipino families receive financial support from family members abroad, Reyes said there are hardly evidences to show how households benefit from it. “While the current volume of remittances … seem to constitute a great resource to tap for the promotion and protection of children’s rights, the prevailing separation of one or both parents from their children definitely goes against the interest of the children," she said. The so-called “social cost" of migration is actually something that needs serious attention, said Reyes. She said that although remittances give way to a better standard of living for migrant families and good education opportunities for the children, the unfortunate impact of migration to families left behind is immeasurable. According to the Convention on the Rights of Children, parents have the moral obligation and responsibilities for the upbringing and development of their children. But with the absence of the parents, technological mechanisms like cellular phones and computers have become the default substitute to personal parenting. “(However, this) will still not replace the emotional bonding that can develop in the relationship when they are physically present. At the same time, they will miss the growing up years of their children and their value formation," she said. Reyes said that several studies showed how migration of parents is indeed heart-breaking for children, making them long for parental care, get confused over gender roles, be vulnerable to abuse, and even develop consumerist attitudes.Longing for parental care “Though family separation may not necessarily lead to extreme cases of emotional disturbance and delinquency among children, children have different levels of acceptance and tolerance of the migration depending on their cognitive development," she said. She added that young children may see this as abandonment and not see the “other side of the picture." “It could, however, have either a positive or negative effect for adolescents – somewhat happy because of the material benefits but the painful one if they cannot hide their sadness," she said. And regardless of the material benefits, the children of mother migrants still consider migration as a form of abandonment, leaving them “less socially adjusted." She said children with mothers abroad tend to be “more angry, confused, apathetic and more afraid than other children" because the absence of this parental icon could be the “most disruptive in the life of the children." Moreover, she said the parents’ long period of absence gives their child a feeling of “permanence of absence," similar to that experienced by orphans and abandoned children. “Most of them have not really gotten to know their parents well because they have not lived with them for years. Children can only associate their parents with the money, gifts, and phone calls," she said. Confusion over gender roles As many young adults with migrant mothers feel neglected or abandoned, they do not see their fathers performing the “caring work" in the family. “They pass over the caring responsibilities to other women in the family, more often to the eldest daughter," said Reyes. This, the author said, is how society views the “dysfunctional transnational families." “By blaming the migrant women’s disruptions of the gender conventions, there is also a greater demand for children’s care expectations from women than from men," she said. Vulnerability to abuses Reyes said that one of the worrying aspects of parental absence is the prevalence of abuse of the children left behind. She said that among the children of migrants, it is the male children who report more experiences of abuse than female children. “Gender differences were largest for such abuses as being belittled and being hurt. The feeling of being abandoned was rather pronounced among the children of migrant mothers (boys and girls alike)," she said. Developing consumerist attitude Most children accept the migration of their parents as an opportunity to have a better life. However, they only see the “money equivalent" of migration. “As long as they receive their money regularly, they will be fine. This also leads to a materialistic attitude of children of migrants," said Reyes. Having discussed the economic benefits of migration vis-à-vis its social costs, Reyes stressed that migration is a process that affects those who move, those who stay behind, and the places where they go to. “People have been on the move since human life began, (however) migration is neither a new phenomenon, a failure of development, nor a substitute for development," she said. - GMANews.TV