Term+Project+-+Chapter+2+-+Discussion

=CHAPTER 2=

=Discussion=

Migration can benefit poor people and developing countries. For individuals and their families, migration can increase income, lead to new skills, improve social status, build assets and improve quality of life. For communities and developing countries, emigration can relieve labour market and political pressures, result in increased trade and direct investment from abroad, lead to postitive diaspora activity such as remittances, promote social and political change and lead to the eventual return by successful migrants who invest in their country of origin (DFID, 2007).

The migration of workers or overseas contract workers (OCWs) have been able to help development in the country mostly through remittances. According to UNESCO (2003) remittances are sums of money earned by migrants that are transmitted back to their country of origin. The amount of remittances that the Philippines has been receiving has been increasing over the years from 14.4 to 16.4 billion pesos from 2007 and 2008 respectively (retrieved from Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas). And as of 2007, the Philippines ranks third in the world with regards to the amount of remittances it receives from OCWs (retrieved from World Bank, 2009). Remittances sent home by these OCWs bring opportunities for their families in the country of origin. It gives them the opportunity to invest, to send their children to school and provide for the healthcare of different family members. The success of the number of OCWs sent abroad by the Philippines is a result of the structure set up by the government as a means to support those seeking to work abroad. The Philippines uses an extensive government structure to regulate recruitment, educate migrating workers, provide migrant worker protection, develop recording mechanisms to identify emigrants and promote competition in the remittances industry.

The Philippine government raises funds to support infrastructure it has set-up for the emigration of OCWs, these can be considered as costs to develop OCWs but there are also social costs to each OCW going abroad. These social costs consist of the family members that the OCW has to leave behind and supporting these members may be costlier than expected. As the DFID (2007) states: "The high rates of adult migration in various forms mean that many children are affected by all kinds of migration. As with adults, the impact of migration on children can vary wildly. Some research suggest that children who live in homes where adults have migrated have improved health and education. This seems to be a result of both increased income through remittances and better knowledge exchanged through migration networks. however, evidence of the social and emotional impacts on children who have one or both parents working away from home indicates negative outcomes such as higher levels of psychological disorders and lower levels of school performance". Familes are also broken as a result of migration, these are also considered as social costs. These costs have a negative effect on each worker and may influence him/her to quit his job and go home.

The law of supply and demand suggests that as supply goes up demand goes down. We can relate this to the migration of Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). Currently, the Philippine government encourages the sending of large numbers of OFWs abroad as their remittances help our economy. However, they have not considered the consequences of sending more and more abroad. Over time, the demand for these OFWs will go down and this will affect our economy greatly through the remittances they send. As the number of OFWs also increase over time, so does the social cost of each of them. Each OFW will either leave a child or his/her family, these are burdens to the OFW and may make him/her stop working abroad and just seek work from their own country. Currently, there is little support given by the Philippine government to OFWs and their families and this may prove to be a consequence to the economy.