Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-g5fl4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-28T07:39:39.872Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Migrant Care Labour: The Commodification and Redistribution of Care and Emotional Work

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 March 2013

Gudrun Bauer  and
August Österle
Gudrun Bauer
Affiliation:
Institute for Social Policy, Vienna University of Economics and Business E-mail: gudrun.bauer@wu.ac.at
August Österle
Affiliation:
Institute for Social Policy, Vienna University of Economics and Business E-mail: august.oesterle@wu.ac.at
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Many European countries are experiencing a redistribution of care work from family members to paid migrant workers in private households. This involves not only a commodification of the practical tasks of care work, but also a redistribution of the emotional element of care. This study explores the emotional experiences of migrant care workers from Central Eastern Europe providing care work in private households in Austria. Based on a literature review and qualitative interviews with migrant care workers, the article investigates the emotional dimensions of migrant care work and the ways in which the regulatory context impacts on these dimensions.

Keywords

Care workemotional labourlong-term caremigrant carewelfare regulations
Type
Themed Section on Welfare State Reform, Recognition and Emotional Labour
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 12 , Issue 3 , July 2013 , pp. 461 - 473
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abel, E. K. and Nelson, M. K. (1990) ‘Circles of care: an introductory essay’, in Abel, E. K. and Nelson, M. K. (eds.), Circles of Care: Work and Identity in Women's Lives, Albany: State University of New York Press, pp. 4–34.Google Scholar
Anderson, B. (2000) Doing the Dirty Work? The Global Politics of Domestic Labour, London: Zed Books.Google Scholar
Anderson, B. (2007) ‘A very private business: exploring the demand for migrant domestic workers’, European Journal of Women's Studies, 14, 3, 247–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ayalon, L. (2011) ‘Abuse is in the eyes of the beholder: using multiple perspectives to evaluate elder mistreatment under round-the-clock foreign home carers in Israel’, Ageing & Society, 31, 3, 499–520.Google Scholar
Bettio, F., Simonazzi, A. and Villa, P. (2006) ‘Change in care regimes and female migration: the “care-drain” in the Mediterranean’, Journal of European Social Policy, 16, 3, 271–85.Google Scholar
Bock, G. and Duden, B. (1977) ‘Arbeit aus Liebe, Liebe aus Arbeit: Zur Entstehung der Hausarbeit im Kapitalismus’, in Dozentinnen, Gruppe Berliner (eds.), Frauen und Wissenschaft, Beiträge zur Berliner Sommeruniversität für Frauen, Berlin: Courage, pp. 118–99.Google Scholar
Brotheridge, C. M. and Grandey, A. A. (2002) ‘Emotional labor and burnout: comparing two perspectives of “people work”’, Journal of Vocational Behavior, 60, 17–39.Google Scholar
Cangiano, A., Shutes, I., Spencer, S. and Leeson, G. (2009) Migrant Care Workers in Ageing Societies: Research Findings in the UK, COMPAS Report, Oxford: University of Oxford.Google Scholar
Daatland, S. O., Herlofson, K. and Lima, I. A. (2011) ‘Balancing generations: on the strength and character of family norms in the West and East of Europe’, Ageing & Society, 31, 7, 1159–79.Google Scholar
Da Roit, B. (2007) ‘Changing intergenerational solidarities within families in a Mediterranean welfare state: elderly care in Italy’, Current Sociology, 55, 2, 251–69.Google Scholar
Degiuli, F. (2007) ‘A job with no boundaries: home eldercare work in Italy’, European Journal of Women's Studies, 14, 3, 193–207.Google Scholar
Doyle, M. and Timonen, V. (2009) ‘The different faces of care work: understanding the experiences of multi-cultural care workforce’, Ageing & Society, 29, 3, 337–50.Google Scholar
Doyle, M. and Timonen, V. (2010) ‘Obligations, ambitions, calculations: migrant care workers’ negotiation of work, career, and family responsibilities’, Journal of Social Politics, 17, 1, 29–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ducu, V. (2009) ‘Women in the lives of transnational Romanian families’, Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Politica, 54, 1, 3–20.Google Scholar
England, P. (2005) ‘Emerging theories of care work’, Annual Review of Sociology, 31, 381–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
England, P., Budig, M. and Folbre, N. (2002) ‘Wages of virtue: the relative pay of care work’, Social Problems, 49, 4, 455–73.Google Scholar
Fisher, B. and Tronto, J. (1990) ‘Toward a feminist theory of caring’, in Abel, E. K. and Nelson, M. K. (eds.), Circles of Care: Work and Identity in Women's Lives, Albany: State University of New York Press, pp. 35–62.Google Scholar
Folbre, N. (2004) ‘A theory of the misallocation of time’, in Folbre, N. and Bittman, M. (eds.), Family Time: The Social Organization of Care, London: Routledge, pp. 7–24.Google Scholar
Folbre, N. and Weisskopf, T. (1998) ‘Did father know best? Families, markets, and the supply of caring labor’, in Ben-Ner, A. and Putterman, L. (eds.), Economics, Values and Organization, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 171–205.Google Scholar
Haas, B., Steiber, N., Hartl, M. and Wallace, C. (2006) ‘Household employment patterns in an enlarged European Union’, Work, Employment and Society, 20, 4, 751–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Himmelweit, S. (2007) ‘The prospects for caring: economic theory and policy analysis’, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 31, 4, 581–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hochschild, A. (1983) The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling, Berkeley, CA: University California Press.Google Scholar
Hochschild, A. (2000) ‘The nanny chain’, The American Prospect, 1/2000 http://prospect.org/article/nanny-chain [accessed 20.11.2012].Google Scholar
Hochschild, A. (2002) ‘Love and gold’, in Ehrenreich, B. and Hochschild, A. (eds.), Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy, New York: Holt, pp. 15–30.Google Scholar
Hoff, A., Feldman, S. and Vidovicova, L. (2010) ‘Migrant home care workers caring for older people: fictive kin, substitute, and complementary family caregivers in an ethnically diverse environment’, International Journal of Ageing and Later Life, 5, 2, 7–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hondagneu-Sotelo, P. and Avila, E. (1997) ‘“I'm here, but I'm there”: the meanings of Latina transnational motherhood’, Gender and Society, 11, 5, 548–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
James, N. (1992) ‘Care = organisation + physical labour + emotional labour’, Sociology of Health and Illness, 14, 4, 488–509.Google Scholar
Karakayali, J. (2007) ‘Mit und ohne Papiere. Migrantinnen aus Osteuropa als Haushaltshilfen in Haushalten mit Pflegebedürftigen’, in Figatowski, B., Kokebe, H. G. and Meyer, M. (eds.), The Making of Migration: Repräsentationen, Erfahrungen, Analysen, Münster: Westfälisches Dampfboot, pp. 48–56.Google Scholar
Lamura, G., Chiatti, C., Di Rosa, M., Melchiorre, M. G., Barbabella, F., Greco, C., Principi, A. and Santini, S. (2010) ‘Migrant workers in the long-term care sector: lessons from Italy’, Health and Ageing, 22, 4, 8–12.Google Scholar
Leòn, M. (2010) ‘Migration and care work in Spain: the domestic sector revisited’, Social Policy and Society, 9, 3, 409–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, J. (2006) ‘Men, women, work, care and policies’, Journal of European Social Policy, 16, 4, 387–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, J., Campbell, M. and Huerta, C. (2008) ‘Patterns of paid and unpaid work in Western Europe: gender, commodification, preferences and the implications for policy’, Journal of European Social Policy, 18, 1, 21–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lutz, H. (2002) ‘Transnationalität im Haushalt’, in Gather, C., Geissler, B. and Rerrich, M. (eds.), Weltmarkt Privathaushalt: Bezahlte Haushaltsarbeit im globalen Wandel, Münster: Westfälisches Dampfboot, pp. 86–102.Google Scholar
Lutz, H. (2004) ‘Life in the twilight zone: migration, transnationality and gender in the private household’, Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 12, 1, 47–55.Google Scholar
Lutz, H. and Palenga-Möllenbeck, E. (2011) ‘Das Care-Chain-Konzept auf dem Prüfstand. Eine Fallstudie der transnationalen Care-Arrangements polnischer und ukrainischer Migrantinnen’, Gender, Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft, 1, 2011, 9–27.Google Scholar
Lutz, H. and Palenga-Möllenbeck, E. (2012) ‘Care workers, care chains and care drain: reflections on care, migration and citizenship’, Social Politics, 19, 1, 15–37.Google Scholar
Lyberaki, A. (2011) ‘Migrant women, care work, and women's employment in Greece’, Feminist Economics, 17, 3, 103–31.Google Scholar
Neuhaus, A., Isfort, M. and Weidner, F. (2009) Situation und Bedarfe von Familien mit mittel- und osteuropäischen Haushaltshilfen, Köln: Deutsches Institut für angewandte Pflegeforschung, www.dip.de/fileadmin/data/pdf/material/bericht_haushaltshilfen.pdf [accessed 20.09.2012].Google Scholar
Österle, A. (2011) Long-term care in Central and South-Eastern Europe, Frankfurt: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Österle, A. and Bauer, G. (2010) ‘Migrant care workers in private households: motivations and perspectives’, Paper presented at the 8th Annual ESPAnet Conference, 2–4 September, Budapest, Hungary.Google Scholar
Österle, A. and Bauer, G. (2012) ‘Home care in Austria: the interplay of family orientation, cash-for-care and migrant care’, Health and Social Care in the Community, 20, 3, 265–73.Google Scholar
Österle, A., Bauer, G. and Haidinger, B. (2011) ‘Migrant care work and care regimes in the European Union’, Paper presented at the COMPAS Conference, Making Connections: Migration, Gender and Care Labour in Transnational Context, 14–15 April, Oxford.Google Scholar
Österle, A. and Rothgang, H. (2010) ‘Long-term care’, in Castles, F. G., Leibfried, S., Lewis, J., Obinger, H. and Pierson, C. (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 405–17.Google Scholar
Parreñas, R. (2001) ‘Mothering from a distance: emotions, gender, and intergenerational relations in Filipino transnational families’, Feminist Studies, 27, 2, 361–90.Google Scholar
Parreñas, R. (2005) Children of Global Migration: Transnational Families and Gendered Woes, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Pavolini, E. and Ranci, C. (2008) ‘Restructuring the welfare state: reforms in long-term care in Western European countries’, Journal of European Social Policy, 18, 3, 246–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piperno, F. (2012) ‘The impact of female emigration on families and the welfare state in countries of origin: the case of Romania’, International Migration, 50, 5, 189–204.Google Scholar
Ranci, C. and Pavolini, E. (2013) Reforms in Long Term Care Policies in Europe: Investigating Institutional Change and Social Impacts, New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Ryan, L. (2008) ‘Navigating the emotional terrain of families “here” and “there”: women, migration and the management of emotions’, Journal of Intercultural Studies, 29, 3, 299–313.Google Scholar
Schmid, T. (2009) ‘Hausbetreuung: die Legalisierungs-Policy in Österreich’, in Larsen, C., Joost, A. and Heid, S. (eds.), Illegale Beschäftigung in Europa: Die Situation in Privathaushalten älterer Personen, München, Mering: Rainer Hampp Verlag, pp. 53–78.Google Scholar
Skrbis, Z. (2008) ‘Transnational families: theorizing migration, emotions and belonging’, Journal of Intercultural Studies, 29, 3, 231–46.Google Scholar
Svasek, M. (2008) ‘Who cares? Families and feeling in movement’, Journal of Intercultural Studies, 29, 3, 213–30.Google Scholar
Timonen, V. and Doyle, M. (2010) ‘Caring and collaborating across cultures? Migrant care workers’ relationships with care recipients, colleagues and employers’, European Journal of Women's Studies, 17, 1, 25–41.Google Scholar
Ungerson, C. (2005) ‘Care, work and feeling’, The Sociological Review, 53, 188–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ungerson, C. and Yeandle, S. (2007) Cash for Care in Developed Welfare States, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
van Hooren, F. (2012) ‘Varieties of migrant care work: comparing patterns of migrant labour in social care’, Journal of European Social Policy, 22, 2, 133–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vertovec, S. (2001) ‘Transnationalism and identity’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 27, 4, 573–82.Google Scholar
Walsh, K. and Shutes, I. (2012) ‘Care relationships, quality of care and migrant workers caring for older people’, Ageing & Society, published online before print, doi: 10.1017/S0144686×11001309.Google Scholar
Weishaupt, S. (2006) ‘Subjektivierendes Arbeitshandeln in der Altenpflege-die Interaktion mit dem Körper‘, in Böhle, F. and Glaser, J. (eds.), Arbeit in der Interaktion – Interaktion als Arbeit: Arbeitsorganisation und Interaktionsarbeit in der Dienstleistung, Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, pp. 85–106.Google Scholar
Wharton, A. S. (2009) ‘The sociology of emotional labor’, The Annual Review of Sociology, 35, 147–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, F. (2011) ‘Towards a transnational analysis of the political economy of care’, SULCIS, Working Paper, 6, 2011.Google Scholar
Yeates, N. (2009) Globalizing Care Economies and Migrant Care Workers: Explorations in Global Care Chains, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Yeates, N. (2011) ‘Going global: the transnationalization of care’, Development and Change, 42, 4, 1109–30.Google Scholar
Zapf, D. (2002) ‘Emotion work and psychological strain: a review of the literature and some conceptual considerations’, Human Resource Management Review, 12, 2, 237–68.Google Scholar