Leading online money transfer service WorldRemit, in celebration of the International Women’s Day, revealed data showing that the gender gap for sending digital money transfers to the Philippines narrowed by almost 20 percent in five years.
Filipinos living abroad sent home a record $33 billion (P1.72 trillion) in 2018, making the Philippines the third largest remittance receiving country in the globe. This makes up about 10 percent of the country’s GDP – the highest share in the region.
The new WorldRemit research shows that the proportion of females sending digital money transfers to the Philippines via WorldRemit grew by 10 percent, compared to the global average of 7 percent.
About 35 percent of WorldRemit’s customers sending to the Philippines are female, compared to 25 percent in 2014.
Despite the global gender gap, female overseas workers from the Philippines send a greater share of remittances compared their male counterparts, and they rank education as the most important reason for sending remittances.
Of the 10 million Filipinos currently working abroad, about 55 percent are now women with many living in countries such as the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Money sent from mothers, sisters and aunts living abroad helps millions of families in the Philippines pay for essential needs such as healthcare and education.
Globally, women represent nearly half of all remittance senders and tend to send a higher proportion of their income despite earning less than men. Evidence suggests that, although female migrants tend to earn less than their male counterparts, they send a higher proportion of their income home more frequently.
Digital money transfer companies are improving women’s access to remittances and helping their money go further. WorldRemit enables the Filipino diaspora to send money home in a few taps from their phones without having the travel to an agent, lowering costs and increasing speed and convenience.
“Ensuring digital inclusion for financial services for Filipino women living at home and abroad is critically important, as we know that when women thrive, families, businesses and local economies thrive too,” said Michael Liu, managing director for Asia-Pacific at WorldRemit.
“Our data shows that women play an increasingly vital role in development of the Philippines by sending money home to support education, cover healthcare costs, make investments, and more. At WorldRemit, we’re committed to simplifying that process, and making it faster, cheaper and easier to send and receive remittances,” he said.
WorldRemit customers complete over 1.3 million transfers every month from over 50 countries to over 145 destinations.
