Abstract
This chapter examines the interaction of family economic stress and strained gender relations as motivating factors in Filipino women’s decision to migrate to Singapore for domestic work. In particular, it analyzes how major life events (i.e., death of a husband and marital dissolution) and economic stress (i.e., loss of a breadwinner, poor agricultural productivity, and insufficient income) promote emotional distress and impact gender relations and family well-being. I draw my analysis from my ethnographic fieldwork in Singapore between 2006 and 2007, involving in-depth interviews with 43 Filipina domestic workers and participant observation of Filipina domestic workers in public places.
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Arnado, J.M. (2013). Abandoned or Abandoning Men: Economic Stress, Gender Relations, and Migration of Filipinas to Singapore. In: Yeung, WJ., Yap, M. (eds) Economic Stress, Human Capital, and Families in Asia. Quality of Life in Asia, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7386-8_6
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