Premarital Pregnancies among Migrant Workers: The Case of Domestic Helpers in Hong Kong

Abstract

This paper deals with premarital pregnancies of women living away from their place of origin as Foreign Domestic Helpers (FDHs), a population that is mostly from the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand and comprise 5 percent of the population in Hong Kong. All of the women workers studied here moved to Hong Kong alone, on two years contracts with the possibility of extension. This paper tries to identify the factors in their becoming pregnant while abroad, outside of wedlock and the ensuing consequences on their economic, health and social lives. Randomly selected, 336 FDHs (211 Filipinas; 72 Indonesians; and 53 Thais) were interviewed, using both closed and open-ended questionnaires. Preliminary findings show that 97 percent of the respondents had premarital sex and of them 36 percent became pregnant. About 61 percent of the pregnancies were “unwanted’ while 39 percent were “wanted’ pregnancies. This study is of immense significance as premarital pregnancy subsequently determined the life trajectories of the women; and it has crucial policy implications for both the governments of their countries of origin and destination.