Overseas Employment and Social Transformation in Source Communities: Findings from the Phillippines

International labor migration has been a persistent feature of Philippine society since the 1970s. While the economic impact of overseas employment has been found to be generally beneficial to families and households, social impact of the phenomenon is less understood. Social transformation in four communities which have experienced large-scale and sustained international labor migration is discussed in the article. Economic prosperity for these communities, particularly for the families with migrant work was the most significant and most tangible impact attributed to oven employment. The negative aspects of overseas employment were related to perceptions of family problems and changes in the character of migrant and members of their families. In general, the nonmaterial changes triggered by overseas employment are still evolving, and changes in social forms or actors filling social roles are not necessarily to be viewed as negative effects of migration.