The overseas sacrifice: caregivers who immigrate to the U.S. work long hours for little pay, but help keep their home country's economy afloat

Restricted until 31 Dec. 2011.Nearly 10 million Filipinos live or work in countries other than the Philippines. In fact, so many Filipinos leave their homeland to find work that they are their country' s biggest export and even have their own acronym -- OFWs, Overseas Filipino Workers. They leave the Philippines in hopes of making better money, but oftentimes work the low-wage jobs requiring minimum skills and little experience, like caregiving.; OFWs in the caregiving industry face unique issues. They work long hours, experience discrimination, and face abuse because of their immigrant status. However, Filipinos continue working as caregivers because they need to make money to send back home. The money they remit to their native country amounts to billions of dollars, helping keep the Philippines economy from collapsing.; Whether the economic benefits of going abroad to find work are worth the social costs, of leaving children and families behind, is a question many OFWs face