Growing trend of Philippine nannies in Pakistan: Causes and consequences

RUNNING HEADER: Philippine nannies in Pakistan i
The Growing trend of hiring Philippine nannies in Pakistan: Causes and consequences
By
Ayesha Majid
Mehreen Anwar
Zainab Tariq
Ms. Rumessa Naqvi
Academic Writing, F
204
June 09, 2015
Lahore School of Economics

RUNNING HEADER: Philippine nannies in Pakistan i
Acknowledgement
We say special thanks to Mr Aftab who helped us find different places in Lahore and he
helped us to take interviews from different people. We would also thank people who took out
time from their busy routine and gave us their interview and shared their personal experiences
with us.
We would especially like to thank Rosanna for giving us the view point of Pakistani-Chinese
and Jennie for sharing her personal story with us.
We also like to thank our parents for supporting us in our research work and the participants
of our survey

RUNNING HEADER: Philippine nannies in Pakistan ii
Research questions
Primary questions
The impact of Philippine maids on the child
Subsidiary questions
1. Impact on the father
2. Impact on the mother
3. Impact on siblings
4. Impact on future family
5. Impact on the maid
6. Impact on co-workers
7. Impact on maid’s family
8. Impact on economy
9. Impact on foreign relations
Scope
Nannies working with families from Elite class living in D.H.A Lahore Pakistan presently
and nannies waiting employment currently living in agencies accommodation. Research
conducted on both the families and the impact of hiring on the economies as well.
Main Assumptions
1. The parents are from elite class.
2. The child is vulnerable to the general public.
3. The child if attends school attends ordinary schools like BDC LCAS LGE SICAS…
4. The father has the ability to support the family.
5. The mother does the job not because of financial crisis.
6. The parents own a house in DHA Lahore.

RUNNING HEADER: Philippine nannies in Pakistan iii
7. Have local servants in the house as well/ all works are not imported.
8. The parents are Pakistani nationals.
9. The nanny is from Philippine.
Domains
1. Ayesha Majid; Introduction, Economic effects
2. Mehreen Anwar; effect on Philippine residents
3. Zainab Tariq; causes of growing trend and it’s effect on family members
Context
Analysing the impact of a Philippine maid on the upbringing of a child both long term and
short term. Thus predicting the after effects of the trend of hiring Philippine au pair amongst
the elites of Pakistan especially psychological. And the impact of Philippines on the social
fabric of Pakistan.
Significance of the study
This research was carried out to look at the impact of growing trend of hiring Philippine
caretaker in Lahore. The interview and personal observations were carried out. We were also
able to look at the people views about this trend. Some people supported and were satisfied
about hiring these nannies; whereas some were totally against it. Both side of the society have
their own reasons to explain. Through this research we were able to talk to many people who
were just not elite class but also middle income group. It was surprising for us that Philippine
maids were fully satisfied by the environment and the family they work with. Even staying
away from their homes they seem to be happy.

RUNNING HEADER: Philippine nannies in Pakistan iv
Literature review
Filipino nannies the cost of caring
By Janis Letchumanan
Photography by James McCron
The article describes a life of a Philippine nanny working in Canada MarilouTuzon. Her life is that of
a typical nanny. She left her family to earn money. It is common among the Canadian women that
they return to work after giving birth and hire Philippine nannies for their new born babies.
Sometimes these nannies are paid a very higher amount because of their work. Moreover, as there
is no childcare system in Canada, the demand for these nannies is much higher. The life of
mariloutuzon is similar to the other nannies working in Canada. All these nannies work very hard to
earn their living.
Final domestic report
By xavor team
The final domestic reports talks about the need for workforce which is needed in Pakistan. Many
workers are trained to fulfil the needs of local. These training are given in different areas. After this
training workers are paid much higher salaries. The workers give feedback to trainer which help
them make changes in their training terms.

RUNNING HEADER: Philippine nannies in Pakistan v
Contents
Acknowledgement...................................................................................................................................i
Research questions................................................................................................................................. ii
Scope....................................................................................................................................................... ii
Main Assumptions .................................................................................................................................. ii
Domains ................................................................................................................................................. iii
Context................................................................................................................................................... iii
Significance of the study........................................................................................................................ iii
Abstract...................................................................................................................................................1
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................2
Background .............................................................................................................................................2
Migration history. ...................................................................................................................................3
Employment............................................................................................................................................4
Relations with Pakistani society..............................................................................................................4
Causes for the growth of the trend ........................................................................................................5
Reason for keeping Philippine nannies (Comparison)............................................................................7
Impact of Philippine nannies on family members ..................................................................................8
The child him/herself..........................................................................................................................8
Mother of the child...........................................................................................................................10
Father of the child.............................................................................................................................10
On siblings of the child......................................................................................................................11
Impact on local maids...........................................................................................................................11
Impact of contract on nanny and her family ........................................................................................11
On the nanny ....................................................................................................................................11
On nanny’s family .............................................................................................................................16
Economic effect of the trend................................................................................................................16
On Philippine economy.....................................................................................................................16

RUNNING HEADER: Philippine nannies in Pakistan vi
On Pakistani economy ......................................................................................................................18
Impact on social fabric of the society ...............................................................................................20
Impact of the trend globally .............................................................................................................22
Summary of consequences...................................................................................................................23
Solution to the problem........................................................................................................................24
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................24
Recommendation..................................................................................................................................26
References ............................................................................................................................................27

RUNNING HEADER: Philippine nannies in Pakistan 1
“The Growing trend of hiring Philippine nannies in Pakistan: Causes and consequences”
Abstract
This article looks in depth the impacts of keeping a Philippine nanny in diversified
dimensions. The impact that this sprouting industry has and is ought to have both on the
society as a whole and on a larger scale globally. Psychological facets of the effects are given
special importance and in depth analysis. Every individual is studied separately, in order to
gather complete knowledge of every effete. Clouts on the society as a whole is also
appraised. The causes for the birth and growth of the industry are also discussed with élite
focus on native reasons for progression.

Introduction
There is an emergent inclination for commissioning Philippine nanny in Pakistan. There are
voluminous rationales because of which elite class customarily hire Philippine nannies. One
of the main reason is the trust factor, people do not trust local maids as they many harm child
due to any personal reason. Philippine caretakers are supplied in many countries and they
work with utmost honesty.
It is surprising that the interview we carried out showed that the maids are fully satisfied with
the family members and the other local servants. They are attach to the child and take care of
them as if their own. Sadly, this trend is creating problems in the society as whole. The local
maids somehow feel jealous as a Philippine babysitter is preferred over a local caregiver and
they are not equally paid. The disparity in imbursement create more glitches, so, does the
difference in conduct.
Comfortable and friendly environment help Philippine maids gain confidence and thus work
in a much better way. Moreover it was also found that many Philippine nannies’ have their
family and friends working in other parts of Pakistan. Surprisingly they have a lot of trust on
Pakistanis. Looking at other side there are some problems faced by a hand full on nannies
which is they do not get the working environment of their predilection.
However in the bigger picture Pakistani and Philippine are working in prosperity and
harmony. This phenomena is now acknowledged internationally “The Philippines and
Pakistan enjoy longstanding ties of friendship and cooperation.” (Conrado B. Demdem)
Background
In 2008, an estimated 3,000 work as domestic workers, according to the statistics of the
Philippine government. A numerous amount of Philippine nannies have come to Pakistan of
work and later got settled here. In Pakistan, it has become a status symbol for rich Pakistanis

to have a Philippine maid. There are many agencies which are working to supply these maids
all over the country, making it easy for people to hire them. Commonly it will be agencies
responsibility if anything goes wrong. However the number of Philippine maids coming in
the country is increasing with time.
The trend of hiring Philippine maids came in Lahore when people of elite caste started to
hire them as an emblem of luxurious lifestyle. It happened when people who were living in
DHA Lahore started to emulate each other and fancy their nanny over other’s nanny.
Hiring Philippine nanny cannot be dubbed just as a fashion but it was also a necessity in
certain cases. For the reason of the lifestyle of those households or because of health issues.
People living in DHA faced many teething troubles when they hired local maids, they were
not able to trust them when it came to upbringing of their child. Since the local maids
generally proved to be cruel with children and were often illiterate enough to cause bodily
harm to the child because of their peony grudges.
In contrast it was easier for them to entrust the more literate and civilized Philippine nanny.
Even the Philippine maids are comfortable working with Pakistani families and they do not
face any major problems.
Migration history.
Many Philippines entered Pakistan's commercial centre in Karachi, illegally with fake
passports and false identity cards as early as in the 1990s along with hundreds of Nepali,
Thais, Sri Lankans, Malaysians and Indians, however, were later deported by the then
government.
Since then legal Philippine immigrants have also come to Pakistan for work. There were 546
registered Philippines living in Pakistan who were eligible to vote in the 2010 Philippine
presidential election as per Philippines Foreign Affairs ministry.

Employment.
In Philippine the most common way of earning bread is through remittances. “In the
Philippines we have a very high level of human capital. And in other parts of the world
countries are at an economically stable stage of development but don’t have as much human
capital.” (Edillon) (Letchumanan)
Most Philippines work in Pakistan as domestic workers, like housemaids, nanny, and nurses
of powerful and rich Pakistanis. For example three Philippine maids work in Minister Yousef
Raza Gillani, one in Hamza shaibaz’s house. Many Philippines are also working as chefs at
Japanese cuisines in elite parts of in Karachi and Islamabad.
A minority of Philippines are also studying Islam. Some Philippines are also nurses in
Pakistan. However majority work as fulltime nannies in houses of rich families.
Relations with Pakistani society.
Philippines have a ting relationship with Pakistanis, however the relationship of Philippine
government is different from that of Philippine immigrants’. In 2007, upon declaration of
state emergency by General Pervez Musharraf, an approximate of 200 Philippines gathered in
Islamabad on the call of Ambassador Jimmy Yambao for protest; against dictatorship.
In contrast when we interviewed the nannies they claimed to be very happy in
Pakistan However, there have been no direct threats to safety of Philippines in Pakistan as per
current reports. The influx of female Philippines’ is also reported to have increased over the
years.
In recent years the relationship of both the governments has become friendlier. In current
scenario both the economies are dependent on each other and are invisibly tied to each other
the invisible hands of market forces thus provoked to have warm foreign relations
So far, the Philippines and Pakistan have had three policy consultation meetings held in 2001,
2004, and 2011.

To show the friendship of the two states the Philippine Embassy in Islamabad under
commanded by Ambassador Jesus I. Yabes published a book, “Flowers of Friendship,” in
2012 to honour Pakistan-Philippine friendship.
Causes for the growth of the trend
As we all know, the trend of hiring Philippine nannies in Pakistan is growing rapidly among
the elite class. The question which arises is why Philippine nannies? Why not local nannies?
There are a number of explanations to riposte this question.
Elite entities hire Philippine nannies for a number of reasons. It’s not that these people do not
have local workers, they do, but for their children they prefer Philippine nannies to raise them
up. This is because parents think that these Philippine maids are far better than local maids in
terms of treating their children.
Why they hire Philippine nannies? This is because they are literate and educated as
compared to local nannies. Child learns most from the person he is being raised up. If the
nanny is not educated and literate then she would not be able to teach good manners to the
child also. It is well known that local nannies are not educated at all and they are mostly hired
for house cleaning purposes and many families in order to avoid paying extra money ask
these local nannies to take care of their children in the given salary make their children suffer
after all. So, considering this benefit of education and literacy people hire Philippine nannies
for their children.
Second reason is hygiene. This is one of the most important factor which considered by the
Pakistani people when it comes to their children. Local maids does not consider this an
important factor because in the places and the environment they are brought up are not very
clean. Parents prefer Philippine maids because of hygiene factor. If the maids are clean then
they would be able to keep the child clean and if not then there could be health issues for the

child which is a big disadvantage. Moreover, the environment of the house would also not be
clean which will affect whole family also. So, in terms of hygiene Philippine maids are better
than the locals.
Another reason is that Philippine maids are trained for child care taking. They know exactly
how to treat a child and how to keep her/him happy. However, local maids are not trained at
all and they treat every child in a way they have been treated in their childhood by their
family. This is not good enough. This could affect the child in a bad way. For instance, local
maids might beat the child up if s/he is not listening to her or they could use bad language
with the child (illiteracy and uneducated) and this could lead the child learning such things
and doing it later.
One more important factor of hiring a Philippine maid is that they are more responsible and
trustworthy as compared to the local ones. They know their job well and do not mistreat the
child as they are trained for the caretaking of children. They do their job in the best possible
manner and keep the child happy. These are some of the causes of hiring Philippine nannies
instead of local nannies.
The Philippine females go out of country because of financial constrains back their at home.
“Women, mostly mothers—when faced with husbands who are sick, have died, or have gone
to work overseas themselves and stopped sending money—set out to find a better life. They
accept work in other countries, leaving children in the care of relatives. While the children
may be cared for materially, “It’s still not the same as when a parent is there to look after the
kids,” says Edillon, who worked with the Philippines’ government to study the impact felt by
children left behind.” (Letchumanan)
Some Philippines go out for work because of the glamor associated with it in Philippine as
James has said “For some individuals, migration signified a route to better opportunities –
for both the migrants themselves as well as the Philippines; for others, migration represented

a form of neo-colonialism, and the deployment of migrant workers constituted a massive
trafficking of sexed and gendered bodies. The “migrants,” likewise, were alternatively
portrayed as commodities, heroes, victims, opportunists, prostitutes, or criminals” (A., 2004)
Another reason for the growth is attraction of professionalism faced by many Pakistani
women. This wave is a part of the world wide psychological change which evolved in the
early 20th century. According to finance and economic planners worldwide the new a real
problem is that workers are becoming too productive and money focused. There isn’t
satisfactory amount of work for everyone to keep all of them busy simultaneously; that is
work scarcity is the new economic problem.
The two possible solutions, could be either cut down the working hours per week, or create a
big maize of artificial tasks to keep everybody busy doing useless work. Cutting down the
workweek means expurgated profits of the big firms, so to keep all happy economic standard
of living was created by economists.
Reason for keeping Philippine nannies (Comparison)
The table below shows the main reasons because of which nanny is hired instead of other
alternates
1) As compared to local
Nannies
a) Hygiene
i) Clothing
ii) Hair & Skin
iii) Food
b) Punctuality
i) Holiday
ii) Starting and ending time
iii) To do Chores
c) Formal training for
child care
d) Manners
i) To work
ii) To talk
iii) To live in collaboration
e) Literacy & language
skills
i) Command on English
ii) Accent
iii) Writing skills

iv) Arithmetic Skills
2) As compared to mother
a) Time constrain
i) Job
ii) House hold chores
iii) Other commitments
b) Status Symbol
i) Symbolizes financial
status
ii) Everyone among peers
has
Philippine nannies
iii) Shows that one has a
luxurious life
c) Health issues
i) Child’s health constrain
ii) Because of health issue of
another child
iii) Mothers health
d) Family constrains
i) Responsibility
ii) Family size
3) As compared to blood
relatives
a) Attachment
b) Family conflicts
i) rivalry amongst mother
and grand mother
ii) Rivalry among siblings
c) Responsibility of blood
relatives
Impact of Philippine nannies on family members
The child him/herself
The nannies have a great impact on the child because they are the ones who play the most
important role in raising the child up. The nannies are hired sometimes for new born babies
or for very young children of ages one or two years. Which is the learning age. Children learn
basic things and basic values at a very young age. When these children are given up in the
care of Philippine nannies they learn many different things because of difference in religion,

culture, and language. However, these maids learn the culture of the family in order to train
the children in the same culture. But, the lack of ample information in terms of language,
culture and religion rises many barriers in effective deliverance. This is because they do not
belong to the same religion nor culture, their lifestyle is very different from that of Pakistani
people.
Brought up by a nanny effects the child’s mental, psychological, educational, physical,
emotional and social development in many ways. For instance, mental pressure faced because
of Biasness of society, mother’s lack of attention, sense of aloofness, lack of blood relatives’
love.
It also effects the educational life of the child in terms of, grade, future goals, extra-
curricular, school confidence and linguistic skills. It also effects physical activities of the
child and his/her nutritional intake.
The child also lacks formal training of local ethics, traditions, and training to settle a new
family in accordance to local terms and conditions.
In social aspect the child is Prone to negatives of society, sense of misfit in the society,
highlights class difference, discrimination, too much social liberation
Parent child bonding is also affected because the child has no memories with parents. The
parents have minimal role in upbringing thus are unaware of his inner self which results to
lack of understanding between the parents.
“The outsourcing of childcare by a mother to another women gives her son the impression
that multiple females are required to meet his needs introducing rather early in life the
concept to “the other women”.” (mom, 2010)
“Girls, too, get “damaged” by being under the care of nannies according to Dr. Friedman.
Mom’s absence leads to a “vacuum of need” in baby girls that will later be compensated by
promiscuity or substance use” (mom, 2010).

Mother of the child
The impact on mother varies from Family constrains to self-satisfaction (at a later stage).
Family contains include, under satisfaction of husband, under satisfaction of mother-in-law,
under satisfaction of mother in law, tantrum / complains of the child, disapproval of family to
accept maids/nannies
However many keep maids because of overburdening of responsibilities for example, nursing
of Parents in law, Sibling in law, kids in the family, fulfilment of job requirements
At a later stage the mother realises she has lost emotional affiliation with child. Then at the
departing of the maid emotional affiliation of the child, siblings, and the parents themselves
with the nanny is also realised. Few mothers also develop a guilt of not giving the child his
rightful time when they come to realise the price they have paid to achieve their desired
position in the society. Especially when she has achieved her goal and wants to come back to
the common routine of a mother, it is then that the bridge between the child and the mother
becomes evident. This realization of losing bond with the child haunts the mother causing
psychological problems to the mother.
Father of the child
Though the nanny assures a complete surveillance on the child but that surveillance has a
negative aspect to it as well
Along with additional financial burden the father has to compromise with his family privacy
and command over the household. The involvement of nanny also effects father child
bonding, since the father can no more freely enter the child’s dwelling, as it is shared by the
nanny. Thirdly he has to give the nanny certain decision making powers of the child. He also
has to compromise on certain social aspects in the grooming of the child since the nanny is
from another culture she stands incapable of delivering local values, customs and traditions.

The family fabric also gets rendered mainly because of the reason that in Philippine family
means father, mother and children while in Pakistan grandparents’ first cousins uncles and
aunts are also included in the circle as joint family system prevail in Pakistan.
As a result of pampering of the child by all three caretakers (father, mother and nanny) the
child might have Unconditional/extreme demands from the father.
On siblings of the child
The siblings feel the presence of nanny as an infringement of their privacy. They also have to
face social pressure inflicted on them by their peers. Whilst many are also convinced that the
mother has left them under control of nanny because they are of no value to her and for her,
her job/carrier is more important than the kids’ themselves.as a result they feel that
offspring's are not the responsibility of parents which effects the future fabric of their family.
Some siblings also get offended by the involvement of nannies in their personal matters and
claim that she is not kept to babysit them but to baby sit the younger ones thus they should
mind their own business. This view point is present among teens only but makes them
troublesome for both the nanny and parents.
Impact on local maids
The local maids develop a sense of inferiority because of the way foreign workers are treated
by the family members and by co-workers. However they do not show this envy against the
nanny and can only be observed by their smile when the nanny is being scolded by the lady
of the house or is talked ill by fellow workers.
Impact of contract on nanny and her family
On the nanny
Some years back if we look around in our society we never found Philippine maids working
with any family but now it is a trend amongst the elite class to hire Philippine maids. There
are many reasons to hire these maids. One of the main reasons is that Philippine maids are

more trusted over local maids as they are thought to be more caring and loving. However
there are some effects on these maids when they work in different countries.
We carried out our research in DHA Lahore and we were able to notice many things. Firstly
the behaviour of other family members apart from the child was observed. It was surprising
that these maids were treated really well by the family and we felt as life they are important
part of the family. One of the children was calling his nanny as mum rather than nanny in his
early days but later on he was taught to call her nanny. Philippine maids themselves seemed
very happy and satisfied by the people they work with and were observed to be affectional
with them. Moreover it was clear that the children were more attached to nanny then their
own mothers.
One of the family we visited, their mother lived outside the country and children stay in
Lahore with their father and a nanny. Their attachment with nanny was surprising just
because they spend their whole day with her. She was the one cooking food for them and
helping them in their daily routine. Philippine maids are brought to Lahore and other parts of
the country by paying them few amount of money. Sometimes even that much is not paid and
they are made to work whole day which is unfair and many of them return back to their
country just because of the poor working conditions. There are many articles written to show
how these Philippine maids are paid.
“For only Rs350, 000 to Rs400, 000, a local agent can ensure that a trained, English-
speaking Filipina maid is legally brought to Pakistan. This amount covers the cost of the
work visa, plane ticket, paperwork and also the agency’s commission.” (rehman, 2013)
When this trend was not famous people who needed these maids did not know how to hire
them and this was a difficult step to explain them.
It cannot be said that all maids are happy working in Lahore. It is also true that they do face
many difficulties like language difference which is one the main problem. We were able to

observe that Philippine maids were not able to communicate with local maids and they could
not tell what they really need. Moreover it was also observed that the local maids somehow
feel jealous and insecure from these maids. Due to these feelings they do not want to help
Philippine in any work as they want to have the full authority and hold the place where they
work. Sometimes it also happens that local maids feel jealous in terms of payment as
Philippine maids are paid highly and given proper place in house to live. It was obvious that
local maids working in the same house want Philippine maids to leave or they mostly demand
the same amount to be paid to them as well. This issue creates hatred between both the sides
and this can have negative impact on child as well as family as a whole. The problems
between both the sides can somehow be solved if they both are treated equally and with
respect.
These maids leave their families just to earn money and support them in difficult time. It is
very difficult for them to leave their young children and work in other countries. “Filipinas
are expected to ‘take care’ of their families, and this shapes the decisions of Filipina
migrants about their choice of jobs and integration in the host country24. At the same time
her absence makes it necessary for her family to search for some other women who will take
over her duties. Usually her 'substitute' is her own mother or sister or eldest daughter, but it
can also be women hired as maids or nannies, part of the network of women who belong to
the ‘chain of care’ (Parreñas, 2001).” (Charito Basa, Violeta De Guzman and Sabrina
Marchetti, 2012). It was also said by Francien verhoeven “i have made a choice and have to
live with that choice. But it cannot be easy. I could not imagine leaving my own child behind
in order to take care of someone else's children. But for some people life takes on strange
twists and turns.” This showed how she feels about leaving her own child and going to
another country in other to just earn money.

While taking an interview we were able to talk about what make these maids leave their
home and children and work in an unknown country. The Philippine maid told us that she
work away from her family just to have some space and fulfil her self-esteem. To earn good
amount of money for her was a respect and her family especially her husband looked at her
with respect and no one could give her orders or tell her how she should spend her life.
Philippine are very compromising people even their children from very early age know how
to spend their lives with mothers. This gives them a sense of independence.
Moreover when we talked to these maids they said that before coming to Lahore they had a
fair because they had heard a lot of stories about employers abusing Philippine maids and
some not even giving them proper food and place to live.
“She alleged that she was detained without food or water by Ayesha when she worked for
her. She said during her time, she was tortured and hence she refused to work, after which
Ayesha attacked her with armed accomplices at her home in Defence.” (REPORT, 2011)
(Ayesha is ruthless: Filipino maid, OCTOBER 6, 2011 BY STAFF REPORT, LAHORE)
With time they gained their confidence and now are happy and much satisfied by the people
they work with. There are many reasons why people in Lahore prefer Philippine maids over
local. People trust these maids more. Philippine maids take care of Hygiene, they have
Formal training to handle child and they also have Literacy & language skills.
Sadly it is true that Philippine maids feel in secure from the male in society. They think that
male can harm and abuse them which might be correct in our society. The maids told us that
they were really worried about how will male members in family treat them. “The way men
in Pakistan look at women is just revolting- it’s as if they are salivating. They just can’t wait
to get their hands on them,” said one of the Philippine maids. This just simply showed how
insecure they were. Somehow their view was wrong and they found male members really
helping and corporative. They seem happy and secure in the homes. Another maid story was

shocking which she people through face book and embassy to her. “After my employer’s son
abused me, he threatened to kill me and bury me in the desert if I tell anyone about what
happened.” Said Luna who worked as a maid. She was later rescued by the embassy and
went back to her country safely.
Even the child fathers were talking with them with respect and were satisfied that their
children are in safe hands. Mothers were able to trust these maids blindly and leave young
ones with them for whole day. Whereas they said that they cannot trust local maids at all as
they can do anything just for money.
Thus by looking at from all sides, it was concluded that these maids were happier than we
thought. They were totally satisfied wrong in Lahore and they had worked with one family
for more 5 years which showed that do not believe in changing places for money unlike local
maids. Child seem really attached to them which showed that they were working with full
honesty and mothers were able to trust them blindly. Surprisingly they also had really good
terms with the local maids working in the house. They both were ready to help each other
without any problem. Thus this growing trend have some negative and some positives on
Philippine maids and society.
Most of the nannies come from the lower middle class of Philippine and have attended at
least primary school. Majority of the Philippine nannies have command over English
language and quickly learn the local Urdu language.
As they have a loving and accommodating nature, thus quickly adjust to their new
environments.
“There is little question or introspection on the issue of the vulnerability of these women who,
in an admittedly misogynistic society, enter the homes of others with little legal or social
recourse for help if they face any sort of violation. Regardless of the level of income or
education of the household in question, "keeping the maid in check" is considered a requisite

for insuring that the power relation of the rich over the poor (and the pure housewife over the
impure maid) is maintained and due deference is insured toward their male, female and even
child masters.” (Zakaria, 2008)
On nanny’s family
“Many of the children of domestic workers fare poorly in Vancouver after they migrate to
join their mothers there,” says Geraldine Pratt in her research based on Vancouver; Canada,
shows that like other immigrants, Philippine immigrant children and youth have feelings of
displacement, homesickness, feeling aloofness and concessions of not belonging to the
location. Philippine youth in Vancouver drop out of high school more often than any other
non-Aboriginal. The immigration also has its impact on the future of the children as well, as
indicated by Pratt’s findings that Philippine children who immigrated between the ages of
twelve and sixteen end up with lower level of education and fewer job skills than their
mothers. The children also feel the gap created between them and their mothers. In rare case
children also disapprove the fact that their mothers take care of other people’s child while
they themselves have no one to specially take care of them.
In many cases these mothers’ are forced to leave their children to a retired nanny in the
family who is already taking care of someone else children at the same time as well or leave
them alone with their fathers.
Economic effect of the trend
On Philippine economy
Currently the impact felt by Philippine economy are prosperous and beneficial for the nation.
So far the impact of Philippine nanny industry faced by the nation is economic growth and
reduction in poverty level. As suggested by remittances figure coming in Philippine from
other countries, for example Canada, Great Britain, America and Italy.

The short term/ immediate impact on the nation is GDP growth because of remittances and
fall in poverty levels as household incomes are now supported by females as well. Poverty
level of the economy has also dropped because of the creation of a new arena of jobs.
However the long-term effects are troublesome, and include lower education level of
immigrant youth, loss of family bonding and psychological impacts of not being raised by
their own mother. Another impact is loss of value of humans as remarked by Letchumanan,
another author says “Philippine lives for sale at Philippine export market! All that’s needed
is to brand them ‘Made in the Philippines’ before being shipped off.” (Locsin, 1991)
.Teodoro Locsin wrote this in his critique about “the Great Philippine export trade”; a book
describing the present commerce of Philippine with in depth analysis.
In addition to this Letchumanan shows a hope towards shift from human trade to commodity
trade if the economy continues to furnish the way it is furnishing “If all goes as hoped, the
Philippines will be able to switch its focus to trading commodities rather than people.”
(Letchumanan)
Another impact is the reduction in skill and productivity of the younger generation because
of diversification of goal and in some cases it is an after math of immigrations as fore
mentioned by Letchumanan, in other a result of lack of attention.
Many Philippine nannies return to their home town for retirement, since the country is still
incapable of creating enough jobs, majority of the retirees end up caring for the small ones,
that is their grandchildren or grand nieces and nephews, while the next generation of
mother’s go abroad to earn money because of financial constraints of the family, thus, forced
to repeat the cycle of nanny care.
Much of the wealth of Philippine residents comes from money given by family members
working outside the country, of which majority work as domestic workers. “Much of the
money made by overseas workers is faithfully sent home as remittances, enabling the

Philippines to stay economically afloat while many of their educated citizens leave the
country. Remittances create up to ten per cent of the Philippines’ GDP (about 22 billion
CAD), making it the second-largest source of foreign capital for the country.” (Letchumanan)
The outflow of educated women is causing troubles in the education sector of Philippine and
it is fared that the literacy rate of the country might drop as well. As eighty percent of the
nannies are those females how have gone to colleges while the rest have high school level
education.
However, the influx of money through these foreign jobs is injecting money into the “liquid
money flow” of the Philippine economy and as suggested by macro-economic theories this
influx is deemed to increase the aggregate demand of the economy which in turn will
increase the aggregate expenditure of the economy which in result will increase income of the
economy resulting in growth of the economy. The current account of the country is will be
also boosted as remittances add to the positive side of current account.
These nannies’ on their return to Philippine take with them new ideas and techniques to
economise their household and create ways for flow of income which are being used in
Pakistan but not in Philippine
Pakistan is currently the 37th largest trading partner of the Philippines. Trading goods
varying from perishable eatables to mechanical equipment to botanical plants to household
products. Thus both the economies have a close bond.
On Pakistani economy
The impact on Pakistani economy in the short term is linked to the increase in spending by
the Philippine nannies who immigrate here, the increase in demand because of them
outweighs the drop in demand by the local maid who has lost her job to her, in the
commodity market. Since the employers as well send more money on food, clothing, and

shelter of Philippine maids this also increases the income of many vendors of whom majority
are large scale firms.
However in long term the structural unemployment created by this emerging trend is deemed
to cause trouble if proper measures are not taken to absorb the local nannies into other sectors
of the economy. If the structurally unemployed maids are employed somewhere else then in
the long run to the trend will bring economic prosperity as children raised by Philippine
nannies till date are seen to be more competitive and creative as compared to the general lot
of kids raised by mothers as compared to children raised by Philippine maids. These kids are
also emotionally stronger and know how to strive for their goal individually, thus prove to be
better worker under crisis condition.
Domestic workers of Pakistan unlike Philippine workers cannot go out of country due to
several aligning reasons, most influencing are the financial, linguistic, skill and family
barriers as highlighted in xavor’s report “The need for trained workforce in the domestic help
sector is identified based on the fact that domestic work has not yet developed into a formal
industry, yet there are so many people employed in a work for pay program in every
household. Demand for trained domestic workers results in expatriate workers from
Philippines and Sri Lank among other countries, working in Pakistan indicating a clear gap
between supply and demand of trained domestic workers. Our skill gap analysis identified a
gap between the available and the desired skill level of domestic help workers at various
levels. This provided the basis for a customized training program addressing the specific
needs of the participants to bridge the skill gap.” (Mohsin Aziz, Adnan Qurashi, 2010) This
limitation of domestic worker further reduces the speed of economic growth of Pakistan.
“While the Government of Pakistan has imposed a ban on the sponsorship of Pakistani maids
to Saudi Arabia, reports by some human rights organisations indicate that Pakistani
domestic workers continue to be trafficked to Saudi Arabia.” (Zakaria, 2008) Thus the
money goes to black market of the economy.
In the end the factors boosting economic growth from the growth of the emerging industry is
over shadowed by the factors slowing the process of economic growth because of

mismanagement and lack of timely decisions by the government the situation is further
worsened by politicalised decision making and implementation.
Impact on social fabric of the society
Philippine nannies bring in with them a different ideology which is contrasting to the
prevalent ideology of the country. The religion to be different as most on the Philippines are
either Christian or Buddhist while the local religion is Islam. Educational exchange between
the countries also takes place further integrating both the societies. This point is also
explained by Conrado in his article “Apart from trade, bilateral relations remain promising
in the fields of cultural and educational exchanges. Plans are afoot to conclude agreements
between educational institutions in the Philippines and Pakistan for exchanges of Islamic
scholars.” (Conrado B. Demdem)
The physical appearance of the Philippine maids are also different because they belong to the
yellow race of south Asia. Thus those who married Pakistani men have offspring’s with the
traits of both the yellow and brown (Indian) race of Asia.
The maids have their of culture and traditions some of which they practice while they are
raising the child thus these cultural norms and traditions are slowly seeping into our own
culture and soon like the integrated culture of Britain and of America Pakistan will have its
own integrated culture. Pakistan’s integrated culture would be a blend of cultures of Pakistan,
India (electronic media), Philippine (nannies and immigrants), china (immigrants) and turkey
(through Turkish soaps).
The nannies also bring with them article belonging to their culture which are not part pf
Asian heritage similarly they take articles like “Kashmiri shawls, khusas…”with them to
Philippine. The result of this cultural blend are yet to be witnessed by the natives of both the
countries.

Pakistan’s tourist industry can also benefit from the emerging industry as Philippines’ will
come either in search of jobs or to pay visit to their family members. I both the cases the
impact felt will be the same as that of a tourist by both the tourist industry and the local hotel
industry.
Keeping a Philippine nanny further highlights the class disparity between the elite class and
the upper middle class. Children raised by Philippine nanny have a more western approach to
life as compared to other local kids. These kids are more religion tolerant as compared to a
typical Pakistani.
Since nannies use English language the child also feels more comfortable in using English
language.
Like other countries women in Pakistan too face discrimination at the hands of their fellow
male members. Since the nannies work along with local servants the othradox approach of
the lower middle class is also changing as exchange of ideas take place between nanny and
local servants like driver’s, guard’s etcetera. “Recognition of the increasing numbers of
migrant women workers who may be potentially subject to exploitation has grown over the
last few years, both within the concerned United Nations agencies (United Nations, 1994;
1995a) and the academic community (Hugo, 1995; Eelens, 1995). In its resolution 49/ 165,
the General Assembly of the United Nations recognized the obligations” (Shah M N , Menon
I, 1997)
Below is a suggested list of risks associated with migrant women.
A. Economic Violence
a. In home country :Overcharging for visas and processing Excessive amounts of
interest charged by money lenders used for raising money for the move
Misuse of remittances by husband or other relatives (contrary to migrant’s
wishes)

b. In host country: Non-payment of wages Violation of the salary agreement in
contract Delay in wage payment Difficulties in sending remittances
B. Social/Psychological Violence
a. In home country Ill treatment of children left behind Extra-marital affairs, or
alcoholism of husband
b. In host country Living conditions in terms of space, holidays, free time,
working hours, and type of work Access to friends and social network from
home country Social isolation and somatic and psycho-somatic illnesses
C. Physical/Sexual Violence
a. In home country Abuse and abandonment by agents
b. In host country Verbal abuse and ridicule Beating Sexual abuse including rape
Imprisonment and deportation (legality of this, proof required, and ability for
defense) Delay in deportation Illegal pregnancy, treatment of mother and child
Murder
Data of the list taken from (Shah M N , Menon I, 1997)
Impact of the trend globally
In the international market the rise of the trend has not only widened the prevailing job
market of nannies but has increased the demand of Philippine nannies causing disequilibrium
in the prevalent settling point. As a result of this the new equilibrium is at a higher wage rate
making it internationally more expensive to hire a Philippine maid as compared to previous
years. The indulgence of Pakistani in the market has increased the heat of competition in the
market amongst the employers’.
The success rate of Philippine workers in Pakistan along with the success number of Chinese
workers in Pakistan will improve the reputation of Pakistan in international labour market.

As nannies are paid in Pakistani rupee, the nannies have to convert it into Philippine dollars,
increasing the demand for Philippine dollars and increasing the supply of Pakistani rupee in
the forex market this results in appreciation of Philippine currency and depreciation of
Pakistani rupee though by a very little amount (a fraction of rupee). Therefore has the
potential to affect every aspect of economic sphere as every facet of the economic world is
interlinked to each other. Moreover because of trade and floating exchange rate every
economy of the world is linked with other economies as a result the economic aspect of every
country is sensitive to even slight changes in another economy whether that country has a
direct link to the other country or not as country’s are doomed to have indirect links with
each other via other countries.
Summary of consequences

The consequences of keeping Philippine nannies are both short term as well as long term as
shown by the hierarchy chart. The impacts are of dual nature direct and indirect. The main
consequences of the trend of hiring Philippine maids have been discussed in the article the
table sums it up in hierarchy.
Solution to the problem
Some precautionary measures can be taken to minimize the negativities of having a foreign maid
some of them include
1. Note child's psychological state
2. Monitor the child's mind set and social circle
3. Be as much involved in the child as possible
4. Attend Parent teacher meting's yourself and not ask the nanny to do so
5. Take the chid regularly for check up
6. When you can afford a 30,000/_ nanny then you can afford to take the child out for recreation
with you
7. Don’t let the child think your job is more important to you then him
8. Make your best effort to play a part in child’s grooming.
Conclusion
The eminent advantage of a Philippine Nanny is not just education or even their experience,
Philippine nannies are known throughout the World for getting on well with children, since
they are kind, loving, caring, friendly, hospitable, and have a warm welcoming heart and
personality. Philippine nannies are very hardworking, family oriented, respectful, and used to
of multi-tasking.

In addition to that a Philippine Nanny will live in your home to provide you with flexible
professional assistance at a time when you need assistance the most.
However domestic maids could also be made compatible to foreign nannies as said by a
Xavor official “Pakistan as a country has a lot of people with virtually very few skills and
large unemployment rates. Training programs such as these allow for people to access
opportunities for skill acquisition and employment. Capacity building opportunities are few
and far between. In this context, our training program can be seen as providing an important
service to the community albeit at a relatively modest scale.” (Mohsin Aziz, Adnan Qurashi,
2010)
The view point regarding the trend varies according to the ethnic background of the group for
example the Pakistani-Chinese oppose the trend and favour upbringing by the mother herself
while Baloch’s and Sindhi’s find the concept an extension of their cultural concept of “Daia”.

Recommendation
This article is written to discuss the positive and negative impact of growing trend of hiring
Philippine maids in Lahore. By working on this research it was clear that this trend is creating
problems in our society. Local maids are not ready to except these maids and see them as a
great threat. After reading this article people can see why this trend is increasing and what
causes people to hire Philippine maids. It will also be clear that why these maids leave their
family and go to other countries for work. This article is written for elite class so that they
can open their eyes and just not think about show off. These matters are affecting our society
as well as local servants.

References
A., J. (2004). MADE IN THE PHILIPPINES. (L. K. John Connell, Ed.) RoutledgeCurzon.
Abelshauser, J.-P. (2012). The Nanny Effect: The Impact of Canada's Live-In Care Program
on Filipino-Canadian Identity. (E. H. Trépanier, Ed.) CAPSTONE SEMINAR SERIES
Belonging in Canada: Questions and Challenges, 2(1). Retrieved from
http://capstoneseminarseries.wordpress.com
Bach, D. S. (2003, july). International migration of health workers: Labour and social issues.
King’s College, Franklin-Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford Street, London SE1 8WA,.
International Labour Office Geneva.
Charito Basa, V. D. (n.d.). International migration and over-indebtedness: the case of Filipino
workers in Italy.
Charito Basa, Violeta De Guzman and Sabrina Marchetti. (2012, october). International
migration and over-indebtedness: the case of Filipino workers in Italy.
INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
Human settlements. doi:ISBN: 978-1-84369-892-0
Conrado B. Demdem, J. (n.d.). An over view of Philippine-Pakistan Relations. Retrieved
from http://www.diplomaticstar.net/overview-of-philippines-pakistan-relations.html
Edillon, R. (n.d.). Philippine.
Letchumanan, J. (n.d.). Filipino nannies the cost of caring.
Locsin, T. (1991). The great Philippine export trade. 6.
Menon, N. M. (1997). Violence Against Women Migrant Workers: Issues, Data and Partial
Solutions. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 6(1).
Mohsin Aziz, Adnan Qurashi. (2010). Integrated Work Learning Program for Domestic Help
Workers. USAID , AXOVR.
rehman, A. (2013, feburary 24).
REPORT, S. (2011, october). Ayesha is ruthless: Filipino maid.
TARA CARMAN, VANCOUVER SUN. (2015, april 2). Filipino nanny in Richmond
awarded nearly $56,000 after fleeing humiliation, sexual assault. © Copyright (c) The
Vancouver Sun. Retrieved from vancouversun.com
Westerman, A. (2013, august). To Care For U.S. Kids, Filipinas Leave Their Own Behind.
NPR.
Zakaria, R. (2008, july 12). Maid to order.

Growing trend of Philippine nannies in Pakistan: Causes and consequences

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Growing trend of Philippine nannies in Pakistan: Causes and consequences

Similar to Growing trend of Philippine nannies in Pakistan: Causes and consequences (20)

More from Ayesha Majid

More from Ayesha Majid (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Growing trend of Philippine nannies in Pakistan: Causes and consequences