When the Overseas Filipino Workers are away, their families, particularly their wives are either working in companies to provide additional income to the family or are taking care of their children as plain housewives.
In the Philippines, since a lot of families are still conservative, the number of working parents, especially if one is an OFW, is still small compared with other countries. This is why if the children are still small and growing, most wives choose to stay at home.
However, if the income being generated by the OFW is small, the family have to sacrifice: That means limited food budget, going to public schools, and no savings for the future.
New Proposed Bill To Help Poor Families
Luckily for housewives, a bill has been filed at the House of Representatives to benefit them. The said bill aims to compensate the stay-at-home or unemployed mothers for the contribution they are making to the society.
The bill, under House Bill 8875, has been filed by Albay Representative Joey Salceda. It will cover all women with at least one child under the age of 12 years old and are living under poverty line. Those entitled to the said compensation will receive a stipend of P2,000 per month from the government.
Who Are Entitled To Receive Monthly Compensation?
These women will continue receiving the said compensation until they graduate from property or if their children are no longer under 12 years of age.
It is time to appreciate their worth and contribution in nation-building. It is time to make payment for their housework and give them wages for the work they continue to bear out at home.
Salceda also added that as of January last year, about 67.5 percent of Filipinos who are not part of the labor force were women.
What if these stay-at-home mothers or housewives take out their services as child caretakers, as homemakers, cooks, and sometimes even as care providers for the elderly and the sick of the family? Would not husbands be less productive at work, would not their children be underperforming in school or worse, may even be juvenile delinquents and pose a threat to the society?
The bill aims to provide a total of P35 billion assistance for stay-at-home women from poor families. P32 billion goes for married women, P3 billion for single mothers, and the rest goes to those who are widows, annulled, and others.
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