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Renalyn Ramirez - Philstar.com
June 23, 2026 | 7:00am
Higher wages and better job opportunities remain among the strongest reasons Filipinos seek work abroad.
oxana pospelova via Getty / Canva Pro
MANILA, Philippines — Higher wages and better job opportunities remain among the strongest reasons Filipinos seek work abroad, according to two recent reports that point to continued pressure from low pay, underemployment and fragile household incomes at home.
A Boston Consulting Group report released June 18 found that 69% of overseas Filipino workers surveyed identified higher income potential as their top reason for working outside the Philippines.
The BCG survey was conducted in February 2026 among 1,337 OFWs across the United States, Asia, the Middle East and the United Kingdom.
Other reasons cited by OFWs were the aspiration to improve their quality of life at 57%, the need to support family expenses and children’s education at 41%, personal growth or independence at 31%, and lack of local job opportunities at 30%.
The report also found that 49% of surveyed OFWs were the primary breadwinners of their households, contributing at least 66% of household income. About nine in 10 OFW families also depend on remittances for daily household expenses, according to the report.
BCG said overseas work has become a way for many Filipino families to move out of income fragility and toward a more stable life in the middle class.
Jobs, wages, quality of life
While lack of local job opportunities ranked last among the five reasons cited by OFWs in the BCG report, the firm said the fact that it still pushed one in three respondents to work abroad showed how some Filipinos migrate out of necessity.
"For these OFWs, leaving was less a choice than a conclusion, the path that remained when the options at home ran out," the report said.
A separate OCTA Research survey found that better job opportunities were the top reason adult Filipinos in the Philippines were considering moving abroad.
The OCTA survey, conducted from March 19 to 25 among 1,200 adult Filipinos, found that 57% were considering migration.
Among those open to moving abroad, 67% cited better job opportunities, 61% cited higher wages and 58% cited better quality of life.
The BCG and OCTA reports differ in respondents and methodology: BCG surveyed OFWs already working abroad, while OCTA surveyed adult Filipinos in the Philippines. But both point to the same main drivers of migration: jobs, wages and quality of life.
Work and wages at home
The latest labor force survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that unemployment rose to 4.7% in April 2026 from 4.1% in April 2025.
Underemployment also increased to 15.2% from 14.6% a year earlier. Underemployed workers are those who already have jobs but still want additional work hours, extra jobs or other jobs with longer hours to earn more.
Economic think tank IBON Foundation said the figures reflected the economy’s failure to generate enough decent jobs.
"The overall labor force picture is of an economy that is still not creating enough work, where available jobs do not provide enough income for families’ basic needs, and where worsening global conditions are further squeezing Filipino families," IBON executive director Sonny Africa said.
IBON earlier estimated that a family of five in the Philippines needs about P1,312 a day to live decently. The national average minimum wage, however, is only P510 a day.
Filipino workers have continued to press for higher wages. During a June 18 public hearing of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board in Metro Manila, labor groups sought a P200 increase in the current P695 daily minimum wage in the capital region.
Labor groups cited inflation and the rising cost of living in pushing for the wage increase.
