Attitudes and Views on Working Mothers: Findings in the Philippines Compared to China, India, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea

Traditionally, Filipinos see men as the “pillar” of the home and women as its “light”.  In plain words, Filipinos view men to provide for their family by earning the money his household needs, while women are tasked to take care of the household and their children’s needs.  But with the growing inequality in income and wealth distribution, women are forced to work and leave their traditional roles out of necessity.

This paper will focus on findings of surveys done by Social Weather Stations (SWS), a non-stock, non-profit research institution based in the Philippines.  Since 1991, SWS has been annually implementing the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) module in its national surveys, with the module on family and gender roles being implemented in 1994, 2002 and 2012, thus allowing for comparison with fellow ISSP member countries such as China, India, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.

In particular, this will look into Filipino society’s view and acceptance of the multitude of roles portrayed by Filipino working mothers through time.  In addition, the survey findings will show if these views and attitudes are changing or are being reinforced in relation to traditional gender roles.