The Foreign Domestic Workers in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan: Should Minimum Wage Apply to Foreign Domestic Workers?

Abstract

With the number of foreign domestic workers increasing in different countries around the world, governments have also begun to pay attention to issues related to the rights of foreign domestic workers. This article presents a comparison and analysis of foreign domestic workers employment policies, working conditions, and minimum wage in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. We found foreign domestic workers in Asian countries lack access to regular forms of migration and safe migration channels; low wages; long working hours; exploitative working conditions; nonrecognition of domestic work under labor laws, and mistreatment in domestic work conditions. In addition, this article investigates from social welfare, economic, and legal perspectives, the feasibility of applying minimum wage to foreign domestic workers. The results show that foreign domestic workers’ wages should not be decoupled from the minimum wage, and foreign domestic workers should not be treated as a separate group of workers in minimum wage policy. Long-term care systems should incorporate the foreign domestic worker labor pool, which could provide the additional personnel necessary for the nation’s long-term care.