AGING Asia-Pacific economies are increasingly relying on Filipino caregivers, nurses and domestic workers to sustain their growing care needs. These countries include Japan, Singapore and Australia. Filipino women migrant care workers play a critical role in supporting aging populations across the Asia-Pacific despite facing significant labor and social protection gaps.
But stronger labor protections, ethical recruitment and regional cooperation are needed to ensure decent work for Filipino women migrant care workers. This is the gist of a study recently released by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).
The study, titled “The Future of Work in Aging Societies: Filipina Migrant Workers in the Asia-Pacific Value Chains,” argues that care work should no longer be viewed simply as overseas employment. Rather, it should be seen as part of regional value chains that connect training institutions, governments, recruitment agencies, employers and migrant workers in sustaining the care economies of aging societies.
As labor shortages deepen and demand for long-term care rises, the Philippines has emerged as a major supplier of skilled care workers. The study notes that Singapore employed about 250,000 foreign domestic workers in 2021, around half of whom were Filipino women. More than 3,000 Filipino nurses and caregivers have been deployed to Japan under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement, while Australia employs an estimated 10,000 Filipino healthcare professionals.
Drawing on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority’s 2023 Labor Force Survey and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda), the study finds that the Philippines has developed a sustained pipeline of women entering the caregiving profession.
More than 85 percent of those enrolled in and graduating from caregiving training programs are women, while women make up the overwhelming majority of the country’s care workforce. The study attributes the continued demand for Filipino care workers to their English proficiency, caregiving skills and cultural adaptability, qualities that have made them highly sought after in overseas labor markets.
Yet the study also identifies a growing paradox. Although Filipino women workers have become indispensable to healthcare, elder care and domestic-care services abroad, many continue to face challenges. These include insecure employment, long working hours, language barriers, limited opportunities for career advancement, and unequal access to labor protections, healthcare and social security benefits.
The increasing dependence of destination countries on migrant care workers has not been matched by stronger protections for those workers.
The study also points to a less visible consequence of labor migration. While overseas employment creates jobs and generates remittances, the continued migration of caregivers and healthcare professionals may contribute to shortages in the country’s own health and care sectors, creating what the authors describe as a “care deficit.”
Moreover, the social cost of leaving young children behind in order to work overseas has taken its toll on many Filipino families. Reports of juvenile delinquency and marriages splitting apart have come from the field. In a stroke of irony, Filipino mothers leave for overseas to take care of other people’s children, while theirs are left behind to be cared for by fathers, grandparents and assorted relatives. While these people certainly do their best, it just isn’t the same.
To better understand these issues, the authors combined Philippine labor market data with policy analysis and interviews involving migration experts, government representatives, and Filipino women migrant workers in Japan, Singapore and Australia.
This enabled them to examine both the economic value of migrant care work and the everyday experiences of Filipino workers while identifying policy gaps affecting both sending and receiving countries.
How can the region’s care economy be sustained? The report recommends improving cross-border recognition of professional qualifications, expanding access to portable social protection and healthcare benefits, promoting ethical recruitment, investing in continuous skills development and digital training, and strengthening bilateral agreements between the Philippines and destination countries.
“Ensuring the sustainability of this care-driven interdependence demands collective action — between states, industries, and regional institutions — to secure equitable, ethical, and technologically supported care systems across the APEC region,” the report noted.
As Asia-Pacific economies become increasingly care-intensive, recognizing the value of care work must go hand in hand with ensuring decent work, fair treatment, and adequate protection for the workers who support the well-being of millions of older persons across the region.
Filipino women migrant workers lie at the nexus of economic necessity and social reproduction. They sustain aging populations abroad while filling fiscal gaps at home through remittances, yet their work remains undervalued and insufficiently protected.
In a stroke of irony, those who give care overseas are not cared for themselves, in the first place. This situation should change.
