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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
Nineteenth Congress 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. __________ 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
Introduced by Representative JOEY SARTE SALCEDA 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
AN ACT 
PROVIDING FOR COMPENSATION TO STAY-AT-HOME HOUSEWIVES 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
In January 2018, about 29.5 million or 40.3 percent of the total population 15 years old 
and over were not in the labor force. These include housewives, students, persons with 
disability, and those who have retired from their employment.  About 67.5 percent of those not 
in the labor force were women. The principal reason given by (about 58.2% of) women of 
working age for being economically inactive, i.e., being outside the labor force, is unpaid care 
work, whereas for (54.5% of) their men counterparts, “schooling” is the primary reason for 
being outside the labor force 
Under conventional economics, work that is not paid for does not count as productive 
labor. These include the work of housewives or stay-at-home mothers who take care of their 
children, who walk them to school and assist them in their school homework, manage very 
limited family budget, do grocery shopping, plan the menu and cook nutritious yet budget 
meals, in addition to a lot more miscellaneous chores for their family and their husbands. Sadly, 
these works are not considered productive. Our society considers stay-at-home mothers to be 
“doing nothing” because they do not go out to work at a paid job like the husbands. Every 
work of a housewife can be considered “social reproductive work,” but most could not see this. 
What if these stay-at-home mothers or housewives take out their services as child 
caretakers, as homemakers, cooks, and sometimes even as care providers for the elderly and 
the sick in the family, would not husbands be less productive at work, would not children be 
underperforming in school or worse, may even be juvenile delinquents and pose a threat to 
society? Clearly, the country’s production processes will grind to a halt. 
The State must therefore recognize the work of stay-at-home women, mothers or 
housewives as valuable economic activity. It is time to appreciate their worth and contribution 
in nation-building. Yes, it is time to make payment for their housework and give them wages 
for the work they continue to bear out at home. The homemaker or housewife deserves at least 
an amount equivalent of a minimum wage, considering that household work is also a full-time 
job. Some studies show that if we quantify the work of stay-at-home women, it approximates 
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the work of kasambahay, thus housewives also deserve to get paid at least what a kasambahay 
earns.  However, to avoid distortions in the labor market and because of fiscal constraints, the 
State should at the very least provide some social assistance support targeted to stay-at-home 
women from poor families who care for at least one child aged 12 or below.    
Throughout the last three decades, the State has protected women’s rights and worked 
to ensure gender equality with the adoption of several landmark laws that impact on the welfare 
of women including Republic Act No. 9710 (otherwise known as the Magna Carta of Women), 
Republic Act No. 7192  (or the Women in Development and Nation Building Act), Republic 
Act No. 10354 ( also called the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act), 
Republic Act No. 10361 (also referred to as the Domestic Workers’ Act), among others. 
International commitments on the Beijing Platform for Action, the ASEAN Socio Cultural 
Community, the Sustainable Development Goals, coupled with the Philippine Development 
Plan’s focus on inclusive growth, have broadened discussions on the attainment of gender 
equality and social inclusion to include economic empowerment of women, political 
participation and leadership of women, as well as violence against women. All these national 
and international development aspirations have also prompted the country to account for the 
contribution of unremunerated work of women in the economy. 
It is for these foregoing premises that the approval of this bill is earnestly sought. 
JOEY SARTE SALCEDA 


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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
Nineteenth Congress 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. __________ 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
Introduced by Representative JOEY SARTE SALCEDA 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
AN ACT 
PROVIDING FOR COMPENSATION TO STAY-AT-HOME HOUSEWIVES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as the “Housewives Compensation 
Act.” 
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. – It is hereby declared a policy of the State to recognize 
the work at home of stay-at-home mothers or housewives as valuable economic activity.  
Towards this end, stay-at-home mothers or housewives shall receive financial compensation 
for all the services rendered on a full-time basis to their children and their families. 
SEC. 3. Coverage. This Act shall apply to all housewives whose family’s economic 
status falls below the poverty threshold, who work as full-time housewives, and do not have 
part-time nor home-based work that is compensated.  
SEC. 4. Definition of Terms. As used in this Act: 
a.) “work at home” refers to services rendered for the children in the family but does 
not include home-based work which is compensated or any income generating 
activity; 
b.) “stay-at-home mothers” refers to women who, regardless of civil status, perform 
the work at home of a full-time mother, and do not have part-time nor home-based 
work that is compensated or any income generating activity;  
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c.) “children” refers to those children in the household, whether biological or not, who 
are ages 0-12, or who possess the mental ability of a child who is below 12 years 
old and cannot take care of themselves.  
 
SEC. 5. Compensation. Financial assistance equivalent to Two Thousand (Php 
2,000.00) pesos per month shall be given to housewives who are covered under this Act. 
The assistance is subject to a review every three (3) years by Congress, in consultation 
with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). At the onset of 
implementation, the government will make use of the DSWD National Household Targeting 
System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) database to identify the initial set of beneficiaries. 
After the first year of implementation, the DSWD, in coordination with the local Social Welfare 
and Development Office (LSWDO) of each local government unit, will set up mechanisms for 
annual updating of the NHTS-PR for determining other qualified beneficiaries under this 
Program 
 
SEC. 6. Conditionalities. The financial compensation shall be released by the DSWD, 
with the support of the concerned local government units (LGUs), as the case may be, subject 
to the following conditions: 
a) The child or children is/are enrolled in public schools with at least 85 percent 
attendance; 
b) The child or children manifest responsible behavior in preparation for eventual 
independence from the full-time services of the mothers; and    
c) The family (father, mother and children) attends a quarterly barangay assembly 
aimed at empowering the family to become responsible members of their locality, 
and at reducing the time burden of unpaid care for women living in poverty. 
 
SEC. 7. Implementing Agency. The DSWD, together with the concerned LGUs, shall 
implement the provisions of this Act. 
 
SEC. 8. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – Within ninety (90) days from the 
approval of this Act, the Secretary of the DSWD, in consultation with the Secretaries of the 
Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of Education shall 
promulgate the necessary rules and regulations, including the targeting and screening of 
beneficiaries, for the effective implementation of this Act.  


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SEC. 9. Appropriations. – The amount necessary to carry out the provisions of this act 
is hereby authorized to be appropriated in the concerned DSWD and LGUs in the General 
Appropriations Act for the year following its enactment into law and thereafter. 
 
SEC. 10. Repealing Clause. – All laws, decrees, executive orders and proclamations, 
rules and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with this Act, are hereby amended or 
modified accordingly. 
 
SEC. 11. Separability Clause. – If any provision of this Act is held invalid or 
unconstitutional, the remaining parts or provisions not affected shall remain in full force and 
effect. 
 
SEC. 12. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication 
in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. 
 
Approved,