Why Many OFWs Remain Poor Despite Working Abroad for Years

You would expect that Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) would be the image of financial success. But in reality, the opposite rings true. Most OFWs suffer financial problems even with their better earnings and years of hard work. This is because they have inefficient money management.

The commission on Filipino Overseas (CFO) states that the leading cause of the problem is the over-dependency of families and relatives.

The common misconception of most Filipinos is going abroad is the solution to all their money problems, and that is why workers abroad struggle despite their higher incomes.

Another source of the problem might be because even before being abroad, the family might have accumulated debts already due to loans and over-borrowing in the belief that the money would be returned once hired overseas.

There are also unrealistic expectations of both the family and the migrant worker. Each party expects an automatic improvement in the quality of life and finances. They also have less restraint and easily give in to requests from their families and remittances and gifts from abroad.

The worst thing is that they don’t save or plan for the long term. Both the worker and family don’t have specific goals and are easily distracted by commercial things.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) states that eight out of ten Filipinos don’t have bank accounts which support the statement of the CFO that financial literacy among Filipinos is very low. Filipinos lack the will to save, and most think that remittances last forever.

No law states that you shouldn’t do all those things mentioned above, but experts advise that you save for future rainy days and follow that golden rule to save more than you spend and not to live beyond your means.

OFW families feel little sympathy

Filipinos fly abroad to work as migrant workers abroad mainly do so because of their families back home.

They send money regularly, become more frugal in expenses abroad, or monitor the movement of currency exchange to get the best value for their fixed income.

However, many family members in the Philippines do not see these sacrifices. Many of them afford expensive gadgets, make unnecessary trips to shopping malls, and post on social media photos of high-end dining experiences. Because OFWs feel obligated to send money regularly, failure to do so may earn them scorn or mockery. “May kabit ka na ba dyang inaalagaan kaya hindi ka na nakapagpadala?”

OFWs are too generous

Filipinos abroad often find time to pick “pasalubongs” for family members, friends, neighbors, classmates, ex-colleagues, and whoever may cross their paths when they go home for vacation.

Someone may ask for petty cash for cigars, bottles of beer, or burgers, it becomes taboo not to be generous. Family reunions are often filled with happy experiences but not without heavy burdens on OFWs’ pockets whether trying to impress as a one-day millionaire or forced to do so by an overeager family out to prove that they have finally got over the poverty hump.

As a consequence, OFWs may loan money before going on vacation, digging themselves into debt.

OFWs fail to communicate correctly about savings

While OFWs abroad work hard, they also are bound to honor commitments to family. They send money regularly, often not asking how the family’s financial status is. On the other hand, receiving wives — or husbands tend to get whatever they want but not what they need, assuming that their spouse’s coy approach is interpreted as tolerance over their newly-embraced lifestyle.

Once OFWs return home and fail to get a sense of family savings, empty bank accounts, and mounting credit card bills and expenses, they feel cheated. However, OFWs also get their share of the blame for not being open and transparent.

“Hindi kita tinanong kung ano ginawa mo sa pera kasi takot ako na baka sabihin mo na wala akong tiwala sa iyo.”

OFWs or spouses in the Philippines get involved in illicit relationships

When infidelity starts to creep in as a result of long-distance husband-wife relationships, money matter is a topic that gets unraveled first.

More relationships mean additional expenses. And as the evil of this unwanted relationship continues, the future of the family relationship could get destroyed irreparably.

OFWs become the target of scams

As earners of fixed income much higher than those in the Philippines, OFWs are the target of scammers preying on cash-rich individuals seeking to invest their earnings abroad.

Many of these scams involve get-rich-quick schemes like multilevel marketing or Ponzi-like business models. When they invest money, the only way they could get it back, if ever, is to recruit more people who will, in turn, recruit others.

Other scams involve investments in properties that are excessive or non-existent or businesses that are not well managed and end up shutting down.

OFWs need to be very careful when it comes to managing their hard-earned money. It is possible that many other people in the guise of helping them, end up running away with their money.

Educating the family on money management and fiscal discipline is one step towards more productive years abroad and does not require extending careers overseas. As a result, OFWs go home just in time to enjoy the fruits of their labor and enjoy time with their family.

Unfortunately, many are unable to meet such an ideal scenario and toil hard abroad even after years of retirement.