Settling for Welfare? Shifting Access to Welfare, Migration and Settlement Aspirations of Filipina Single Mothers in Japan

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with Filipina single mothers’ access to diverse forms of welfare assistance in Japan and its impact on their decisions, aspirations and capabilities for migration and settlement. It fundamentally asks: Does access to the welfare system make Filipina migrant mothers settle in or move away from Japan? I argue that welfare arrangements significantly affect Filipina single mothers and the ways in which they raise their children and manage a transnational household. Access to child-rearing, subsidised living and housing benefits in Japan, combined with private welfare arrangements in the Philippines, have enabled them to navigate various life-course events. Analysis of their welfare access across time and space suggests that Filipina immigrants’ migration and settlement aspirations are contingent upon macro-level factors such as the restrictive nature of Japan’s immigration, welfare and labour policies, the ambivalent attitudes of Japanese society towards immigrants and individual factors such as legal status, residency and social networks that influence their socio-economic roles and family-related activities in Japan and the Philippines. Attaining permanent residency in Japan is a utilitarian choice which gives them flexible options for the future. Their aspirations to eventually either return to the Philippines or to settle in Japan are influenced less by the ‘adequate’ social protection available in Japan than by the age of their children, their investments and their dreams of a desirable retirement.