Sending Cash Home To The Philippines Is One Method Migrant Workers Assist Family

My cousin and I came to America with his family in 2001. He came looking for a better life for his family while I came to create one. Both he and I would transfer money to the Philippines so that our families could live \”high on the hog\” as some say.

After arriving I took a job that helped sponsor me for a working Visa. My cousin lucked out even more, he quickly earned two promotions promotions after his first year working. Unfortunately he lacked the confidence to ask his job to help with a Visa. To no surprise he was caught and advised to plead for voluntary departure, which may or may not have been the best plan of action. One thing I do know is that my wallet is surely paying the price since I\’m now the one sending over money to the Philippines on both of our parts.

Money being transferred into the Philippines from other countries is very important to the economy since it receives more money from remittance than from foreign investment on a yearly basis. So it\’s understandable that money send from other countries has a massive impact on the strength of the economy.

Many people wonder where exactly that money comes from. I\’ll tell you – it\’s from Filipino workers just like me who live outside the country. Many don\’t know that 8% of the Filipino population is currently abroad doing migrant work.

In July 2008, the population was estimated at 96 million, and it\’s astounding that 45% of those people live on less than two US dollars a day! That\’s why it\’s no surprise that those of us wiring money into the country seem to be such a huge factor on our family income. At one point the Philippines central bank expected remittance to reach $18.9 billion by the year 2009. However, this was before Wall Street\’s collapse last year.

The Department of Labor and Employment estimates that 50,000 Filipinos living in the U.S. have either lost or are in the process of losing their job this year. Many of those include people in the finance business. But those who do hold on to their job make good money and make up the population consistently sending money to the Philippines several times a year, even despite the effect on our paychecks. Usually, we focus on being thankful thankful for being here and having a job in the tough recession we are in.

William Gois, regional director for the group Migrant Forum, estimates that money coming to the Philippines from the U.S. will slide by 50% this year. Though it\’s not an exact number but it\’s still a shocking number. Regardless, I along with many others continue transferring money to the Philippines using all possible methods – banks, wire services and re-usable debit cards.

Regardless of the state of the economy or my wallet, I continue to transfer to the Philippines monthly and am confident when I say I am hardly the only one.

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