‘I chose to stay for a while’: Aspirations and capabilities in the nonmigration decision making of nurses in the Philippines

Abstract

Focusing on Filipino nurses, who are situated in a culture of migration where nursing is seen to pave way for overseas migration, this article explores the (non)migration decision‐making process and the temporal and agentic dimensions of the decision to stay. While regimes of mobility may restrict or enable cross‐border movements through immigration regulations, this article focuses on ongoing processes within the Philippines such as labour market development, family relations and individual considerations. The analysis shows how important events, as well as anticipated events, in aspiring migrants' life cycles impact on their decisions and aspirations. Changes in the local labour market, such as the proliferation of call centres, have provided new opportunities for socioeconomic mobility within the Philippines. This article demonstrates how nonmigration of skilled workers is a complex and multilayered phenomenon. While staying has long been seen as a passive and natural situation, this article, in line with an emerging literature, acknowledges that staying requires agency. Further, nonmigration has an inherent temporal dimension as migration aspirations may change over time.