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Current Affairs

As Asia rapidly ages, who cares for the carers when they grow old?

Bessie* left the Philippines for Malaysia more than a decade ago to care for other people’s children. She stayed to look after their parents instead.
Certified…

By Samantha Johnson / September 13, 2026
Bessie* left the Philippines for Malaysia more than a decade ago to care for other people’s children. She stayed to look after their parents instead.

Certified as a carer, she now freelances around Kuala Lumpur’s Klang Valley, earning up to 25 ringgit (US$6) an hour for round-the-clock shifts, with clients providing her meals, transport and housing.

“My former employer was very understanding and offered to release me earlier so I could earn a higher salary as a caregiver,” the 50-year-old said.

Her career path is, in miniature, the story of many of Southeast Asia’s carers. Malaysia is often a way station: a place to earn a certificate and some experience before moving on to better paid work, sometimes with a path to residency, in Japan, Canada or Europe.

“A lot of caregivers from the Philippines come to Malaysia or Singapore to work for a while, before they relocate,” Bessie said, adding that, unlike so many others, she planned to stay put.

Filipino nurses, many of whom were bound for work abroad as carers, take an oath in Manila in 2009. Filipino carers have become an expensive “gold standard”, according to a recent white paper. Photo: AFP
Filipino nurses, many of whom were bound for work abroad as carers, take an oath in Manila in 2009. Filipino carers have become an expensive “gold standard”, according to a recent white paper. Photo: AFP

The region’s wealthier economies are now competing for a workforce that is thinning out as it moves around.

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