Abstract
Remittances and caregiving arrangements are among the most significant practices of informal social protection against social risks and exclusion among transnational families. This article argues that remittances can provide social protection in cases where formal welfare services do not reach the citizens properly. Furthermore, it illustrates how members of Filipino transnational families can create sustainable informal social protection and utilise it long-term. The transnational practices are analysed to show how migrant capital, particularly the intersection of economic and social capital (Bourdieu, 1986), is transferred to informal social protection through meaningful reciprocity between the senders and recipients of remittances. Successful allocation of remittances and negotiation of care arrangements depend on the realisation of reciprocity and its social context, such as life circumstances, moral obligations and migrants’ personal goals for migration. The data draw on observations and 41 qualitative interviews conducted both in Finland and in the Philippines.
Highlights
An unstable economy followed by under- and unemployment in the Philippines has made the country one of the biggest labour-exporting states in the world
Remittances have become a significant form of informal social protection for many migrants and their families, including Filipino labour migrants and their family members who remain in the Philippines (Avato, Koettel, & Sabates-Wheeler, 2010, p. 463; Bilecen & Sienkiewicz, 2015)
Reciprocal arrangements of remittances and caregiving are the core elements in offering informal social protection to family members still living in the Philippines
Summary
An unstable economy followed by under- and unemployment in the Philippines has made the country one of the biggest labour-exporting states in the world. This article discusses Filipino transnational families’ strategies to Social Inclusion, 2019, Volume 7, Issue 4, Pages 221–231 manage remittances and caregiving arrangements in a sustainable way, providing family members with informal social protection and access to social services and education in the Philippines. Access to informal social protection strengthens the families’ inclusion in Filipino society and reduces their risk of falling into poverty. The latter indicates falling under the food and poverty threshold, which in 2015 was estimated as PhP 9,140 (159 EUR) for covering food and non-food needs of a family consisting of five persons (Philippine Statistics Authority, 2019a). I argue that informal social protection is a significant addition to formal social protection, if the former provides long-term protection for the non-migrant members of transnational families
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