A typical family in the Philippines living under one roof is composed of the parents, which is a mother and a father, children and a lot of times we have this so-called extended family where the grandparents, uncles, aunties, cousins, live together with you.

The mother stays at home and takes care of the children and it is the father who earns a living but nowadays where the economy is so down and prices of basic commodities are up, even sending your children to school seems so unaffordable, the mother who is usually stays at home have to work also to help her husband with their livelihood. Since there are instances that grandparents or other relatives live with you, parents have to work double time to include the extended family in the budget. Filipinos are very family oriented so we don't mind if our relatives stays with us for a few months and even for years.

Here in the Philippines we have issues of unemployment so it is very common that one or even both parents are working abroad to receive a much bigger salary compared to working locally where the earnings is so minimal. Some mothers work as domestic helpers in Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the USA. The fathers also will work as Engineers, Construction workers, Seaman, Cook, Baker in countries like Dubai, Canada, Australia and the United Arab Emirates. Nurses and Caregivers also are the most in-demand jobs where a large percentage of Filipinos are employed abroad.

When parents worked abroad, it is the grandparents or the aunties who would take care of the children. I wonder what is the typical family set up in other races.

Feel free to share your thoughts.