Most jobs here in the Philippines don’t include any kind of pension. Sure, some of the higher paying jobs, government jobs, military and such offer pensions for those who make a career out of such employment. But, a lot of Filipinos work in temporary jobs, informal work, or just pick up whatever odd jobs they can get. If you are a tricycle driver, you should not expect any pension for that. Same thing for a seamstress, jeepney driver, waiter working in a restaurant and such. These are the kinds of jobs that employee the average Filipino.
So, no pension on the horizon. What will the person do? Another thing that is important is that a lot of people can’t find work if they are over 35 or 40 years old. People in that age group and older are virtually unemployable here. When companies advertise help wanted ads, they actually specify what the age limit is for employees that they will hire. Sometimes these employers won’t even hire somebody in their late 20’s.
With these conditions so prevalent in the Philippines, how can a person plan for their old age? Most people don’t earn enough income in their younger years to enable them to save much money toward their retirement years. So, it’s a dilemma. What do you to to enjoy life in your later years? How do you protect yourself when inevitable health problems crop up? There must be a way, right?
Well, in Philippine society, even with all of these limitations, there is a way that many people ensure their retirement. How? They have a lot of kids. How does this help? These kids generally have a responsibility to pitch in to take care of their parents when the parents are older. How do they take care of the parents? They pitch in to provide money for the parents. They help take care of the house and daily chores that need to be done in the household. They take care of the physical needs of the parents. Everything that an older person might need in their golden years is looked after by younger generations of the family – children, nieces, nephews, even grandchildren.
One thing that you hear from a lot of foreigners is that they are shocked that Philippine families are so big. It surprises them that couples have so many children. Why wold they do that? Well, the more children there are, the better the parents will be cared for in their old age. I mean, if you only have one or two kids, caring for the parents could be difficult. But, if you spread that cost over 6 or 7 kids, it can be quite affordable. The Philippines is not like the USA where the older generation is sent off to a nursing home or a retirement community. Here, the older generation is more revered, and they are taken care of. They are not simply sent off and relegated to once per month visits (or less).
Many foreigners take their criticism of large families even further, and they take it into the realm of religion. It is very common to hear foreigners criticize the birth control policies of the Church. For me, I don’t buy that. The fact is that people know how to use birth control, and they know what it is. I don’t personally believe that. I firmly believe that most Filipinos have large families as their own form of a pension or Social Security for their old age. This is a cultural thing, the way that people here handle planning for their golden years. Yes, the way that we do it in the west is different, but that doesn’t necessarily make it better. The way that they do it here works better for the way the economy works here.
Honestly, with the economic meltdown in the west, I would not be surprised to see a similar system come into place around the world. No, I don’t think we’ll see Americans or Europeans having 6 or 8 kids, but I do think that at least in this generation we will see people in their 30’s to 50’s kicking in money so that their parents can make it through their retirement years. We are already hearing about old folks having to find jobs, working as store clerks and such, because they lost all of their retirement funds. Having the kids help is virtually inevitable, I think.
I was showing my students some video clips of the Philippines today and this subject came up. In one of the clips, there was a family with eight kids. One of my students asked why they have so many kids? I said, as you just did, that they see them as helping in their older years. Also, why should only the well to do have a large families? I also talked about the different culture there and how older people are more respected.
hi bob,
hi bob,
i was talking to a concerned friend about retirement. she was told that she needed to have at least 1 million dollar to retire comfortably.
i know that my husband and i will never have a million dollars to expect when we retire. but i don’t worry about it. i think about the folks in the Philippines who made it through their advanced years just fine. That’s not to say to be passive about retirement though.
my wifes family there are 3 sisters and two brothers and a bunch of grandchildren and even a great grand child now! and my wife and i help out every month we send extra money pay for medicine of her parents and we ship a couple of balikbayan boxes full of clothes and things for the children and we pay for two of the nieces college tuitions.i am treated like a king when i visit the philippines!
Right on, Bob! Families are larger “by choice” and not “by accident” ❗
With a child survival rate being much lower in the Phils than in Western countries, plus the need for “all hands” to help with supporting the family – such as most or all participating in some phase of a rice planting or harvest – and the need for providing care to both the very young and the very old, large families are the way to go (if you don’t win the lotto).
Even though Asawa-ko & I are having some “problemas” with my Mother-in-Law, I’m honor bound as the spouse of the eldest sibling to insure Mother is comfortable and not in want of anything in her final years.
I agree 100% with your point Bob…but having that many children per family as a form of social security has long term negative effect i.e. China’s problem of even feeding its own population, enviromental issues ect…
The size of Philippine families is about the same, or a little smaller than the size of rural families in the US before Social Security was established. My father was one of 13 siblings, and my mother, about 10. I expect that the size of families in the cities are somewhat smaller, on average than families in the Provences.
My wife, who is from Zambales Provence has 6 brothers and sisters, yet her siblings families only average about 3 kids. Are Pinoy families getting smaller than previous generations were ?
I dont agree you you there Bob , its coming across that americans are all puting there parents in retirement homes.Am from the U/K mysellf and look after my father not with money but as a cafer i am sure the majoirity of americans are also prepared to do this.
large families used to be common decades ago. but times have changed. i came from a large family, youngest of 8, i notice that none of my siblings have more than 4 children. in fact out of 8, only 3 have 4 kids. personally, i like large family. it’s fun as long as parents are able to feed the children, send to school and instill some kind of family values.
Bob
Im wondering about (balikbayan boxes) im assuming they are care packages right?
I checked at the post office a box 12 inches byt 12 inches by 12 inches weighing about 10 or 15 lbs will cost about $175.00 thats why i have not pursued it any further. Am i missing something? i thhink it would be BUANG to send $100 worth of stuff for $175 dont you?
Terry
Morning Bob,
Totally agree with you but if I might add that the option of birth control would be handy to avoid so many single mothers? It is a bit of a stigma that could be partially avoided and would help reduce the reliance of these single mothers also on the family unit?
Hi Bob!
One aspect of the Philippine offspring retirement program that you didn’t mention is that single children are more obligated to the care of the parents than married children. I am very proud of Marie’s commitment to her parents well being. Marie is one of twelve children. The entire family does what they can to provide a comfortable life for the parents. The ones that have more provide more without shaming the others. It is accepted that the children with families can not do as much financially. The single ones are expected to donate more to the cause. Sometimes Nanay will cry when her friends tell her how lucky she is to have children that care so much for her. It is our plan to bring my 80 year old father with us when we return home so he will never suffer the indignity of a nursing home. He is very excited at the prospect of a new life at 80. Maybe the slower paced life in the Philippines will be comparable to the slower paced life he fondly remembers during the sixties.
Bob,
I remember when I was still in the States planning to bring Elena there. She asked about my mom. I told her she was active and had her own home even though she was approching 80 years old.
Elena told me, she would go to moms and help with the housework and if needed my mom would move in with us.
When I mentioned mom and I would drive each other crazy and did not relish the idea of her living under the same roof, Elena got loud and stated “She is your mom, we have to take care of her”
We also have a nephew who is a OFW Marine Engineer. He always tells me “Do not worry Uncle, I will always take care of you and Antie”
I am thankful for such a loving wife and family, but it is still difficult to totally absorb being from a Western Culture.
Maayong Buntag Bob
It is great the respect Filipinos will show to there parents. We have a friend who sends money to her parents to try to help them even though her mother gives most of the money to her brother who gets in trouble spending the money. She just cannot stand to see her parents in need. As for the big families, I will give the Filipinos credit since they are planning for there future better than many Americans. 🙂
Another question answered, thanks Bob. With the state of most peoples retirement accounts here at the moment I can see the logic. Instead of investing in a retirement account, have a bunch of kids and invest in them.
Kamusta ka Bob,
My Rose actually comes from a small family, just her and her brother Eric. Most of her parents families are large though, and I am not sure why her parents decided to just have two children. I asked her and she didn’t know why for sure, she thinks it was just because at the time, they wouldn’t be able to afford anymore children.
But I see in my future as the one to be taking care of there needs when they are older, and I won’t mind doing this for them. As for my parents, they are already in there retirement years, and living off of my fathers government pension, so they are living comfortably in there house in Florida, with no mortgage, no car payments, and no credit card debts..is just the way my parents planned it…and for them it worked out great.
One thing I have noticed about with Rose, and when I talk to her about health insurance, and she always tells me its a waste of money to get Philhealth. But I know to them it is just money, not being used and not seeing a return on it right away…I guess I explained that the right way. She keeps saying, is just best to save money for such emergencies that come up…and of course I explain to her, what if it is an emergency that we can’t afford. But if we had insurance it would help to cover some of it, she just doesn’t understand that aspect of it..and I understand why, but can be a little frustrating explaining it to her. Ok…sorry I got off subject there…a little bit. But I guess is a little bit about preparing for the future.
Just my two piso’s worth…hehe
Salamat kaayo,
Danny
Hi Bob,
Many things we consider cultural differences,were in fact present in our UK past,its just that we have prospered over the last century and moved on.
Before Retirement Pensions were introduced 100yrs ago,it was the norm here for very large families for similar reasons(sometimes we forget).I remember even as a kid some classmates still had 8 or 9 siblings.
Regards having difficulty finding a job over 35/40 in PI, its getting that way here.Some employers now think you are washed up at 45,and at 50 finished.There are many who have to take less qualified/paid jobs at that age.It is a fact in the current economic climate that over 45’s, unless they have very specialized skills,are first to be laid off.I experienced this myself some years back.
regards Chas.
Bob i would have little disagreement with your article and in fact the first article i ever did for my blog touched on the aging issue and the differences between western and Philippine cultures treatment of same .
I do believe Philippine families are becoming a bit smaller though because of a number of different influences . Exposure to western cultures via tv & the internet , hard economic times and perhaps just cultural evolution of some sort .
A big part of the reason i chose to retire here was because this culture doesn’t throw away it’s elderly so let’s hope that western tradition never takes hold .
Hi Bob
We have a system here to take of the elderly. With Medicare and Medicaid and social security which all 3 are like a ponzi scheme. It depends on people to put money into it to pay of the original investors. So in effect I am paying for the elderly where as in the Philippines they take of their own parents. Many nursing homes get their money from the government. I really believe that pensions here are unsustainable, look at GM or a city close to where I live called Vallejo which filed for bankruptcy because of pensions for their police and fire departments. I think the Philippines system of taking care of their own parents is much more sustainable, you are responsible for your own family and you have a young work force.
I also believe pensions create a two-tier system for retirement. The ones with it whose companies they once worked for or mainly now the government who will need to raise more taxes to pay for the retire’s pension. The ones without who are forced to pay more taxes or other costs like the bailout for GM whose desperate need for cash which in part to pay for a very nice healthcare and pension benefit for workers and their family who no longer work. If an elderly person does not have enough money to provide for their retirement they are a tax on society. In the Philippines they will be a burden on their own family while in the U.S. they are a burden on society. This will greatly increase with the large increase of people retiring here.
hi bob,
I disagree with you on this, there is no factual evidence that filipinos uses the children as their “own pension” or the intent to make big families for such purpose, If that is the case, then philippine population should be as bigger as india or china, or perhaps similar size of indonesia, the fact is, new generation has a smaller family and are now very aware of the benefit of having small family regardless of their status in life. it is our culture to take care of our elders as it is for hundred of years, china, vietnam, malaysia, and other asian countries do that as well as we share similar culture (even in greece too), we simply don’t abandon our elderly just as what the western people do to their elders, we show our gratitude to our elders for raising us and giving us life, taking care of our elderly is not imposed or forced on us to do it, it is innate to majority of filipino to care for their parents or elderly.
have you ever wonder? why there are very few home-care institution in the philippines? because it is very unfilipino to send our elderly to a such place.
i’ve seen many documentary films about the elders of western countries sent to a home-care institution, i was in awe seeing them there and the first thing that comes to my mind was “how can they do that to their own parents?” of course that is my reaction because i have little knowledge of western culture and for me, sending your own parent to a home care just because they don’t have pension is unacceptable and way beyond my imagination. (culture clash?)
there are many wealthy family in the philippines who have big family too, there are poor family who have small family too.
sociologist studied it numerous times as to what are the reasons why there are filipinos who have big family.
1. poverty – mother and father has no job and has nothing to do but fornicating.
2. lack of family planning education / ignorance
3. choice of having a big family.
4. family from provinces tends to be bigger than that of in the cities.
but using the children as a form of “pension” is not the main reason, for sure there might be some filipino family with that kind of intent but their numbers are very very few.
the trend seems to be changing, more and more filipinos are now into having small family, maybe because the new generation are now concerned about their future, or maybe they realized the importance of family planning, whatever the reasons are, i can see that there’s a big changes.
I’ve been an OFW for nearly 21 years, i send money to my parents on my own accord, i was not forced to do it, i simply feel that it is my duty (out of love) to support my parents even if they are doing well and i am sure you’ve seen that with your filipina wives too.
It’s very common to find in the Philippines a 45 years old and still single living with the parents or even the married ones living with their parents or children who keeps supporting their parents, and because of this culture, filipinos are often misunderstood that we make big family for “future pension”
my grandmother is a u.s. citizen, she spent almost 30 years in the states and my aunt takes care of her, my grandmother was never sent to a home-care and she decided to come home for good and spend her final years in the philippines, there are hundred thousands if not millions of filipino in the states and very few you can find filipino elders in a home-care. as a matter of fact, when a filipino become a citizen of another country, the first thing they would do (if there is a chance) is to bring their parents.
hi bob –
i’ll have to disagree with you on your point about the catholic church. i think the church is a major problem with the population explosion in the country. yes, i think it’s a problem, a serious one. i also think gov’t & church share a relationship that go back to spanish times (rizal even discusses this corrupt link in his books). and i’d like more family planning services afforded to the people even if it goes against church doctrine. as you can see, i don’t like my laws dipped with theocracy, especially one dominant one.
but that debate must go some other time.
you do raise some interesting points about family relationships that may differ from typical western standards. though each family is unique, your thoughts about elderly care homes not even a consideration & the children carrying some sort of responsibility for their elderly parents ring true.
Macky its not the church that is the issue its the culture. Look at most 3rd world countries and they are all the same regardless of the religion,if the church were to ‘blame’ than why does the muslim population ( in the same country) have the same issue? The only exception is China which activley enforces population control.
Hi Bob – off the subject. I just came across a really cool tool you can use to see live where viewers, posters, etc…. are coming from as they enter yours or other blogs on your site. I see it works with wordpress. http://feedjit.com/join/ There is more information on the site. Sounds like something you would be interested in putting up on the different blogs for your benefit as well as message posters.
The elderly (past age 40?) are highly revered and respected – but yet virtually unemployable. That is indeed a real head-scratcher in a nation that would so greatly benefit from the wisdom & experience of older employees in the workforce. The culture is so seemingly dysfunctional in so many ways, that the cultural “retirement program” forces couples to have 6 or 8 (or more) children so they’ll have someone to care for them as they age. One would wonder how many generations this has to take place before it is realized this “economic model” is perpetually self-defeating, and destructive to future generations.
Ha ha SIR BoB, me and my partner were having this exact topic of conversation today. Firstly, leave churches, studies, and theories aside. I got this info straight from the horses mouth.
I was outside digging up soil in the back yard in the scorching heat, when I heard a screeaam from inside the house. It was my fiance, she said that I am in “that” age group now (50) and that I should not work so hard. I said don’t worry a 50 year old Aussie is equivalent to a 30 year old Pino. I told her to relax, she said I should take a budt ( bath ) and go to the room and try for more children so we can make a happy future ( she meant secure our future ).
I said more kids means more headaches and expense luv! I just can’t sustain the numbers, 8 in her family and 4 more in ours 12 in total. She replied Nooooo your wrong, when you get into that “other” age group your sons and daughters will look after you!
After I heard that explanation for more kids,I exercised some birth control and family planning….. I just kept digging!!!
I think u missed the point Bob, what i was driving at was both religions (Islam & Christiananity) in the RP suffer (?) the same issue of large familys regardless of religion ideology, thus I belive its more a 3rd world and culture thing…I get your angle, i just think u missed my direction 🙂 !
Macky ..valid point , as with most issues its more than likey a combination of all the points.
Hi Bob,
Confused,occassionally i here the words social security mentioned in PI,i never thought there was any.
Is there any form of social security in the Philippines?
regards Chas.
hello Bob,
What a nice subject and I am glad I got to read all other post first. Josey is only from a family of 3, she her sister and brother. But lives in her Uncle house with her three uncles Lola two aunts, one cousin and Mother during the week. Uncle owns house and he has very good job in Philippine standards. It is very small and all are happy. I guess what I am saying is you are so right and I knew you were talking of culture in your post.
When I first met Josey I was also talking with lady from China. I was having very hard time choosing. So I told both that my Mother might someday have to move in with us. Chinese lady suggested maybe we could hire someone to help. Josey said why you even ask this. Decision made that day.
I have 64 first cousin on my Mothers side and she had 12 Brothers and sisters. 32 first cousins an my Dads side and he had 6 brothers and sisters. USA was different at one time. My Mother will not be sent to a rest home.
Another interesting topic here today. I’ve only had a slight flick through the responses, so may have mised some posters points. I think that the large family issue may well be slightly affected by the position of the catholic church, but I do think that is minimal, as today most people tend to adapt religion to suit their own lives. The much larger percentage, as you say Bob, is people looking on it as a way to provide support for their old age. However, my mother in law apparently used to be involved in some kind of family planning group that used to travel to the very remote areas of Mindnao to try to educate the people, and her opinion is that a significant number of the people did not know about or understand contraception at all, and with no other form of entertainment, would er…make their own. Apparently one couple had 21 children! Seemingly the attempts to educate them often met with anger, but perhaps that’s because it wasn’t well presented…who knows?
It’s certainly an interesting topic. Of course, such large families are not long term sustainable, and what I see as a greater issue, is that children having to support their elders contributes greatly to poverty of their own generation, and almost guarantees perpetual poverty in the largest part of the population. Every time they see light at the end of the financial tunnel, a hospital/drugs bill will pop up and clean them out again. It must seem hopeless, and destroy ambition for many young people.
I’m afraid I can’t see a solution to this; it’s a problem that affects most if not all developing countries (or not developing would perhaps be a better phrase). Doubtless Adolf Hitler would have had a simple unemotional solution, but I can’t see it getting much support!
My dad is up craps creek without a paddle as to retirement right now because of the economy. I’ve told him I’d like to have him check out the phils and really would like nothing better than to have him live here so I can help take care of things. My 2 younger sisters are in college right now and my older sister… well we won’t go into that. I’m very much interested to see what the US looks like now… guess I’ll find out on Monday.
Hi BrSpiritus – Wow, I didn’t realize you were leaving so quickly. I hope you have a good trip. Maybe you can convince your Dad to make the move!
My wife is one of those that has been brainwashed by the schools that she shouldn’t have very many children. I guess she would be one of the younger generation of Filipina’s (22). I have used the argument that we need lots of children to take care of us when we are old. Also that I want several so that hopefully at least a couple of them wont be so pissed at us when we are old they will come visit. I think she is coming around though. And no I’m not Catholic never was not even religious anymore. I think in the next 3 years their will be a LOT of Americans wishing they had more children to take care of them and it will only get worse from there.
I hate to bring this up but I think their is another factor that plays heavily into this as well. I am speaking in general now. Most Filipinos love life and children. Us having had a baby recently I really noticed that everywhere you go in the Philippines people want to touch and hold babies. I have found it very interesting that even the men do that there.
While that used to be the case in the US at least with most women when I was a kid I think many now look at children as a burden to be avoided. Mostly only very young girls still ooohh and aaahh at babies now. By the time they are older babies are looked at as symbols of slavery for women. It really is a sad contrast of a life loving society and one that worships death and self.
For those pulling out the old tired argument of overpopulation that has been worn out since Roman times, you really need to read up on some modern methods of growing food that have been around for over 50 years.
Everyone should read this sorry its in PDF. Using sea minerals to grow better food.
http://www.seaagri.com/seaenergy_nov01.pdf
Lots more info about it here.
http://www.seaagri.com/research.html
And the Hydroponic solution if your interested.Many things will grow with only sea minerals but NPK is recommended for most.
http://www.seaagri.com/hydroponicsformulas.pdf
You might also want to look up ‘Sonic Bloom’
http://originalsonicbloom.com/
Yes pollution is a problem but that is mostly related to big business and largely unneeded industry. And yes we need to manage fresh water better in most of the world. Flush toilets are a real problem for both pollution and water usage and one of my pet peaves as its something most people really can do something about.
I was, of course, joking about Hitler, although I suspect his solution would have been to eliminate an entire generation (or two) of oldies, allowing the current working generations to devote their resources to their own or future generations, thus resloving the problem. Mind you, I’m not advocating that solution, let’s be absolutely clear about that!
The Catholic Church has a lot to do with the size of the Philippine population, no doubt about it. The Catholic bishops are very powerful in the Philippines and have influenced laws re population control. In the City of Manila, the last mayor was such a staunch Catholic that during his term, there was virtually no population control services for its residents – not even free condoms or education save for Catholic-approved methods which are mostly unreliable.
When my mother went to the confessional back in the 60’s and told her priest she was thinking of contraception – not abortion mind you – the priest screamed at her and she had to walk out of the confessional wishing her lace veil was a black cloak. And that’s why she was pregnant every year of the 10 years of her late 20’s to the 30’s. She is educated too, but educated in Catholic schools as her children all are. We are 7 children in all.
As for children being a Filipino’s pension plan, I do believe a lot of Filipinos think this way. Since returning here, I have been “advised” countless times how it’s much better to have at least one child, so I’d have someone to take care of me in my old age. It actually bothered people I just met that I don’t have kids. Then again, children are always considered a blessing in our culture so…
It is true that for a Filipino to provide for their elders is a voluntary act. If it’s brought on by filial obligation, love and respect is the bigger part of it. This is also the reason we treat any older person with respect. I believe it’s an Asian value more than a Catholic one and I always thought it was a good value every culture should embrace.
For institutional pensions, the Social Security System has a program for a citizen to pay a contribution which entitles them to receive a pension in their later years. A relative is now receiving Php10,000/month from the SSS even if he is still actively employed in an executive position. It’s not much by Western standards but when left in the bank, it comes to a hefty chunk over time.
My former employer had a very good retirement program for their employees which would give more than a million to any employee who retired after about 15 years employment. Before I was married in my late 30’s I made sure to put away a certain amount in our very solid credit union – my old age fund as I used to call it. There are several companies in the Philippines that do have good retirement programs and I hope they are sustainable.
Regarding employment after 40, I have to disagree. I’m in that age group and thought the same but things have changed so much. I got a few employment offers within a month of returning to the Philippines even if I have no specialized skills or education. There are also opportunities in the BPO industry where ability rather than age are given priority. These opportunities did not exist 10 years ago so I’m very happy for our age group who are now seeing their kids through college…