According to a report from the United Kingdom’s National Statistics Office, economic growth in the first three months of 2012 slowed to 0.2%.
The fourth quarter of 2011, UK’s economy shrank to 0.3%. These very low figures have definitely added a strain to Europe's struggling economy.
Filipinos in the UK, who just got back on their feet after being hit by the recession three years ago, are now trying to cope again with this new downturn.
A Pinoy who was interviewed by this reporter during the 2009 recession is now more worried about losing her full-time job as a caregiver.
Janice Ridulfa was a student and just one of the many Filipinos who were taking double-jobs during the 2009 recession, admitted that today’s UK recession may mean redundancy to overseas workers like her.
“Even how secured you think your job is this time, you’ll never know anytime you will lose your job,” she said.
She also lamented how she has to go back to square one on budgeting her daily expenses because of the recession despite the fact the she’s now working as a full-time caregiver with no tuition or school projects to worry about.
“Before when I was a student, I need to take double jobs to maintain my working hours for my tuition fee, house rent, fares,” she said.
“Right now, I am already doing a full-time job with a better salary but is still not enough for me because prices of everyday basic commodities have increased unlike before it was not that really bad even if I was studying,” she added.
The exchange rate of pounds to peso has lowered drastically for the past 3 years. This is also affecting her monthly budget in sending money back home where many of the prices of basic needs have increased too.
“The currency rate of pounds to peso before was still higher unlike now you can really see the thirty-pesos difference,” she said.
“Even if you have a high salary, you still have to send a larger amount of money back home because even there, life is also getting more difficult,” she added.
While Ridulfa is trying to cope with her daily budgets, other Filipinos here have also reduced their budget for their holidays.
Sybelle and Adrian Leeder, a couple from Norwich, England, now prefer to travel around the United Kingdom rather than purchasing plane tickets to go abroad.
London is now one of the places in the country that they visited.
“When we have a day off or a weekend off, we just usually go to London together since it’s just two-hour drive from our place. And we don’t spend too much when we are here in London,” Sybelle Leeder said.
“And at least here in London, we have friends who can accommodate us than if we go outside the country. It’s quiet expensive to pay a hotel or even a bed and breakfast,” she added.
They also spend their time more at home now when they are on leave from work than planning holidays because they are also trying to budget their daily expenses.
Sybelle has also shared that they decided to cut back not only on their traveling expenses, but also buying phone cards to call relatives back home.
“We try to save as much as we can now. Sometimes I don’t call my family over the phone because it’s more expensive,” she said.
“We just use the internet now most of the time to talk to them. It’s better because it’s free,” she added.
Many overseas Filipino workers here are now working more hours to make ends meet. Some are still taking double and even triple jobs, while others have already left this country due to current economic problems and stricter immigration rules.
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