What do Filipino families really want?

According to the Boston Consulting Group, a management consulting firm, their recent study of 1,515 families across the country, representing 6,387 individuals (out of a total population of almost 117 million), showed that the top three priorities of Filipino families are financial security during health emergencies (70 percent), building a large savings fund (68 percent) and improvement of nutrition and food quality (64 percent).

Their study examines how Filipino households make decisions, allocate resources and navigate the tension between daily survival and long-term aspirations.

Their findings aim to help their business clients formulate a better approach to meet the consumer preferences of the Filipino family as a whole and not as separate individuals.

Anthony Oundjian, managing director and senior partner at BCG’s Manila office and co-author of the report The Filipino Family, believes that “to truly understand the needs of Filipino people, businesses and policy makers must look beyond individual consumers and see the Filipino family as a decision-making unit. This report provides an unprecedented data-driven lens into what drives behavior, priorities and choices across households nationwide.”

Their study found that seven in 10 Filipino households identified “being financially prepared for health emergencies” as one of their top five priorities, surpassing savings, education and homeownership.

The BCG report identified six family structures and six different realities as opposed to a single family unit of two parents and children. It also noted that decision making is a collective process, with Filipino households as “complex, collaborative ecosystems. Understanding them requires moving beyond the individual lens.”

The largest family structure, comprising 23 percent of the families sampled, is dual-earner nuclear families, with both partners working and sharing or splitting responsibilities based on capacity and timing, with decisions made jointly and roles continuously negotiated.

Second, comprising 21 percent of the survey sample, are extended families that include multi-generational households where responsibilities, childcare and decision-making are distributed across aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins  —  creating both support networks and complex dynamics.

Third are single-earner nuclear families, who account for 20 percent of households surveyed, with one breadwinner shouldering all financial responsibility while the other parent manages the household and children, creating clear but often stressful divisions of labor.

The fourth are solo parent families, accounting for 14 percent, with only one parent meeting the dual demands of earning and caregiving, with time as the most precious and scarce resource.

The fifth are sandwich families, who account for 11 percent of those surveyed, and are the middle generation who have to simultaneously care for children and aging parents, managing competing needs across three generations with limited breathing room.

And sixth, at just four percent of those surveyed, are the DINKS or dual income, no kids  —  couples who enjoy flexibility and are able to build stability before major commitments, often with pets and who invest in experiences over obligations.

According to Julian Cua, managing director and partner at BCG Manila and co-author of the report, “These aren’t just demographic categories, they are fundamentally different economic units with different needs, vulnerabilities, and different ways of making decisions. A product that works perfectly for DINKS can fall flat for a sandwich family juggling three generations. Yet most businesses treat all ‘consumers’ the same way.”

The study shows that across Filipino homes, decisions are collective, and that consulting each other is a form of care.

The report also highlighted the role of overseas Filipino workers, who are deeply engaged in household decisions since they are usually the major breadwinners, yet most business models overlook their role entirely.

The five takeaways of the report are: 1. The consumer is not an individual but a household coalition. 2. Health remains the household’s deepest vulnerability. 3. Aspirations are modest but symbolize dignity. 4. Household structures shape economics. And 5. Migration reshapes families without breaking them.

I was just a little disappointed that the BCG report opted not to tackle an interesting consumption-related issue that is inextricably linked to financial gain or loss, which is the aspect of gambling and the desire to get rich quick — arguably the ultimate weakness of Filipinos that has mired the country in poverty and corruption.

Thus, the title of my column: What do Filipinos really want? As per Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the base of all needs that must be achieved first is survival or physiological needs of food, water, shelter and clothing.

Which, in our modern world, equates to money. Money to attain, per the BCG report, financial security for health emergencies.

But an incongruous finding from their report showed that families will actually prioritize the vulnerable for health care, but as we all know, if the parent or primary breadwinner feels sick, they will choose to wait and see before attending to their own health problem, which sometimes leads to a more dire economic circumstance if the primary earner is incapacitated, plunging the entire household into poverty.

It was also acknowledged in the report that HMOs or health maintenance organizations provide insurance only to working-age employees. Upon reaching the age of 60, most HMOs no longer extend coverage for seniors.

Thus, for me, asking a Filipino what is most important or a priority to him or her would be earning money in the fastest and quickest way — the game of chance, betting, small-time lottery, jueteng, gambling in whatever form.

Understandably a tricky topic, but truly at the top of what Filipinos really want before simply saying a job — not just a low-paying, labor-intensive or manual job, but a profitable employment that would involve some level of skill or expertise that needs training or education in a good educational institution, leading to stable employment in a progressive and profitable company.

Wealth before health. Just saying.