Overseas Contract Labor, Remittances, and Household Consumption: A Case Study from San Fernando City, the Philippines

Abstract

The export of contract labor as a strategy for stimulating domestic market conditions is a primary feature of Philippine economic policy. Since the 1970s, millions of Filipinos have responded to slow economic growth at home by taking advantage of non-permanent job opportunities abroad. This paper investigates how the efforts and earnings of overseas contract workers (OCWs) affect their communities and households of origin. Specifically, it considers the degree to which Filipino households depend on cash remittances as an important source of income and how household revenues are used by contract workers and their kin in the local context. The study examines the experience of approximately 100 demographically diverse households in San Fernando City, La Union.

Citation

Matejowsky, T.S. (2006), "Overseas Contract Labor, Remittances, and Household Consumption: A Case Study from San Fernando City, the Philippines", Dannhaeuser, N. and Werner, C. (Ed.) Markets and Market Liberalization: Ethnographic Reflections (Research in Economic Anthropology, Vol. 24), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 11-36. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0190-1281(05)24001-5