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 benefitsThe 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. continue.........................