The Meaning of Money to the Filipino Domestic Workers in Singapore

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the meaning of money to the Filipino domestic workers in Singapore. This was interpreted through narrative research wherein these meanings and representations on money were explored and decoded, in the hope of finding what these meanings reveal about their situations. This meaning making would be beneficial in understanding more the situation they are into such as their spending habits, on their style of managing their finances, or even their financial struggles. Knowing one’s perceptions and attitudes toward money can be a “frame of reference” in which one perceives things and events (Tang, 1992). Hence, exploring and understanding the OFWs’ perceptions and representations of money can provide a “frame of reference”, to have a better and closer explanation on their situations.