Data from the survey on Overseas Filipino Workers for 2020 of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has shown that 59.6 percent of women Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) made only 44.47 percent of remittances.
The PSA noted that 70.3 percent of women working abroad are working in elementary occupations and do not receive high salaries.
Institute for Migration and Development Issues Executive Director Jeremaiah Opiniano said, “OFWs abroad will not realize that the salaries they earn abroad may not be worth it given that such salary [e.g., P15,000] may be earned here. Note however the type of occupation that gives such a salary; they may think that for such a job, they cannot earn that amount here at home—even if the cost of living back home is lower.”
The tendency to bite the bullet in terms of getting “higher” salaries does not necessarily mean that many women working abroad came from relatively poorer regions.
