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Abstract
In the Philippines, large-scale overseas migration has raised concerns about left-behind children, who are perceived to be most affected by the absence of fathers, mothers or both. Without their ‘real’ parents (especially mothers) to rear and guide them, left-behind children are perceived to bear the brunt of the social costs of migration. Based on data collected from a 2003 nationwide study, this article examines how left-behind children (specifically those aged 10–12 years old and adolescents) cope without their migrant parents. Three questions are explored: (1) how children are raised in the absence of one or both migrant parents; (2) how children (re)configure family, family life and family practices; and (3) what roles children have, if any, in how the family unit copes with the migration of one or both parents. Although migration creates emotional displacement for migrants and their children, it also opens up possibilities for children's agency and independence.
Notes
1. This restriction applies only to less skilled migrant workers. Highly skilled and professional migrants are extended special privileges, such as permanent residence and family reunification.
2. This refers to family life resulting from the expanding realm of family and work under conditions of globalization (Jastram Citation2003).
3. One example is this recent commentary: ‘Elias [a character in Jose Rizal's novel, Noli Me Tangere] is the prevailing antithesis of the prevailing mind-set today, which is to leave and desert the country at the first opportunity to do so. To take the easy way out and never to bother about those who will be left behind. Those who think a sense of country is for fools and a deep sense of country is only for the desperate’ (Ronquillo Citation2005).
4. According to Section 12, Article III (Declaration of Principles and State Policies) of the 1987 Constitution, part of state policies provides that: ‘The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception. The natural and primary right and duty of parents in the rearing of the youth for civic efficiency and the development of moral character shall receive the support of the Government.’
5. Also available online at http://www.smc.org.ph/heartsapart.index.html
6. In his study of the left-behind wives, elderly and children in China, Xiang (Citation2005) raises the issue of institutional factors in explaining the conditions of the left-behind population. In general, he found that their situation is not much worse when compared to the situation of the family of non-migrants. He argues that the major factor is the rural-urban divide rather than migration. In the case of left-behind children, for example, studies that compare the children of migrants and of non-migrants do not show significant differences in school attendance and academic performance between these two groups. More significant differences have been noted between rural children and urban children in terms of psychological and behavioural problems, with the former registering more problems (Xiang Citation2005, p. 28).
7. Another term is pamilya, which is a Filipinized version of the Spanish term, familia.
8. In the absence of readily available data on the migrant status of the children's parents, the study had to invest in the construction of a sampling frame, which involved listing Grades 4–6 students in a sampled school, and classifying the students according to the migration status of one or both parents. A series of screening questions was administered prior to the interview to validate the information gathered during the pre-survey screening. Children who were initially classified as children of migrants, but whose parents were working abroad for less than a year, were not interviewed and were replaced by respondents who met the criteria.
9. In our FGD with care-givers (i.e. aunts and grandparents who look after the children of migrants), we observe an outpouring of love and sympathy for the children left behind by migrants.
10. Xiang's (2005) comment on institutional factors may also provide some explanation as to why children of migrant mothers are more disadvantaged compared to other groups of migrants. Migrant women in domestic work may not have easy access to communication than other workers. Also, the destination may be a factor, e.g. a domestic worker in Italy is likely to have more access to communication than a domestic worker in Saudi Arabia. The work conditions of migrant mothers may not promote access to communication, one of the key factors in maintaining family ties, particularly mother–child relationships.
11. The names are fictitious. The notations are as follows: M or F means male or female; MA, mother absent; FL, father absent, land-based; FS, father absent, seafarer; FA, father absent, not known whether FL or FS; BP, both parents are migrants; NM, both parents are non-migrants. NI means no information on the parents’ migration status.
12. A survey of 2000 households by a market research company, A.C. Nielsen, estimated that about seven per cent of households in the Philippines are run by househusbands, most of whom belong to the C-D-E classes (or lower socio-economic classes). Some 45 per cent are househusbands by force of circumstances, such as not being able to find jobs and thus, having to tend to the home while their wives worked outside the home; some 41 per cent are those who willingly perform the role of homemakers; another seven per cent were termed as ‘consummate hubbies’, i.e. men ‘who have a lofty standard of running the household and implementing their own style of management’ (Malaya Citation2005).
13. I thank Chee Heng Leng for her observation that ‘Migration may create the conditions for change, but while this may be necessary, they may be insufficient for gender roles and relations to change in the direction of gender equality.’
14. Seafarers’ contracts typically have a 10-month assignment and two months’ vacation. During their vacations, seafarers’ time with their families are cut short because they have to attend training and refresher courses.
15. Some participants, both male and female, also shared that they have become used to the situation to the extent that even if they sent messages by ‘text’ (the expression in the Philippines for sending SMS is ‘texting’) to their fathers, they would not get a reply.