Poor domestic prospects for decent jobs and livelihoods are the main factors forcing millions of Filipinos abroad. The most important factor driving migration is the poor and deteriorating domestic economic environment where Filipinos are effectively forced to seek employment abroad for their and their families' survival. It is not coincidental that the most rapid increase in migration from the country happened against the backdrop of severe social and economic dislocation associated with neoliberal 'globalization'policies and worsening domestic underdevelopment. The number of Filipinos overseas or leaving every day and the amount of remittances they send back have risen dramatically over the last three decades. These indicate not so much a development success but the sheer number of Filipinos unable to find work, lead productive lives and improve the condition of their families at home. This situation also defines the limits of any supposed 'reintegration' program. If domestic economic foundations were sound with genuine prospects for gainful occupations and work then Filipinos would not be forced abroad in the first place. Specific targeted livelihood programs should have been enough to keep them in the country. But if these sound foundations are not there then such programs have little to build on and the overall effectiveness of such programs is doubtful. Migration is the greatest vent for the country's severe unemployment and far outstrips local job generation, but has still not been able to mitigate the domestic jobs crisis. Recorded annual deployments have outstripped yearly job generation over the last decade with 9.60 million deployments lrlthe 1997-2008 period compared to jusi 7 .46 million additional domestic jobs generated, according to the NSO. This is an average of 960,404 deployrnents annually compared to just 746,000 domestic jobs generated annually. In 2008 a record 1.24 million workers were deployed compared to only 530,000 local jobs created. Filipinos have been going abroad in record numbers but the nonetheless record unemployment affirms how overseas work still hasn't been enough to make up for the inability to create jobs at home. Migration outcomes and impacts There are two distinct aspects to migration and development. There is firstly the net effect on migrants and their families of a family member going abroad for work. The main benefit is the remittances which increase household incomes, while the main cost is the social stresses due to extended separation from family members. Second is the impact on the domestic foundations for economic development. While related they are however distinct because what is good for the household is not necessarily good for the economy put another way, reducing the poverty of particular remittance-receiving households will not necessarily reduce poverty in the economy as a whole. Migration is doubtless effective in temporarily reducing poverty of particular households while remittances are received. But there is little reason to believe that it is able to make a dent on structural and systemic poverty especially in a country as large and with as many poor as the Philippines. t5