Foreign Domestic Workers Research Articles

Experiences of Migrant Live-in Caregivers in Caring for Patients With Advanced Cancer - A Qualitative Study.

Foreign domestic workers are increasingly hired in Singapore as live-in caregivers for patients with advanced cancer. Language barriers and different cultural backgrounds can make caregiving potentially challenging. This study aims to explore the experiences of migrant live-in caregivers caring for patients with advanced cancer. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore: the challenges and needs of migrant live-in caregivers caring for patients with advanced cancer, what enables their cancer caregiving work, and their motivations. Participants were recruited from inpatient oncology wards of an acute tertiary hospital. Inclusion criteria included: (i) migrant live-in caregiver caring for a patient with stage IV solid organ cancer; (ii) age ≥21 years; (iii) conversant in English, Mandarin or Burmese. Twelve female caregivers participated in the study. Their mean age was 35.4 years, 4 were from Indonesia, 3 from Myanmar and 5 from the Philippines. Four main themes emerged: (1) Wide-ranging work responsibilities that could be challenging, (2) Treating and being treated like family, (3) Having access to multiple sources of support and (4) Motivated by being able to provide for their own family of origin. Migrant live-in caregivers face various challenges in cancer caregiving. Having a good relationship with patients, adequate employer and peer support and being able to provide for their family helped to motivate them. Efforts to support them can include formal training, better delineation of job scope and hours, and resources to address psycho-emotional needs. Further research could focus on knowledge gaps for cancer caregiving, psychosocial and post-bereavement needs.

A Study on Ways to Introduce Foreign Domestic Workers : Focusing on the Case of Sending Overseas Domestic Workers from the Philippines

A Study on Ways to Introduce Foreign Domestic Workers : Focusing on the Case of Sending Overseas Domestic Workers from the Philippines

Digital public opinion and moratorium policy of Indonesia on Malaysia's maid online system to recruit Indonesian domestic workers

ABSTRACT Since Malaysian authorities developed the Maid Online System (MOS) to recruit foreign domestic workers remotely, including Indonesian workers, the government of Indonesia has enacted a moratorium policy. The system allows Malaysian employers to have low-cost overseas workers. Nevertheless, it offends the bilateral agreement signed in the Memoranda of Understanding between Indonesia and Malaysia. Within the system, the sending countries like Indonesia cannot appropriately protect the workers who utilize MOS independently. In contrast, the host countries dominate the process from pre-departure to arrival. Without proper protection from the country of origin, the workers are more likely to become victims of human trafficking and slavery. This study investigates the positive support of online Indonesian public opinion for Indonesia's moratorium policy concerning Malaysia's Maid Online System (MOS) to recruit foreign domestic workers, including Indonesians. The paper focuses on secondary data from YouTube, Instagram, and online news. The data analysis of this paper utilizes netnography to elaborate on domestic politics in which public opinion (comments on YouTube, Instagram, and online news) strongly supports Indonesia's moratorium policy. Considering Putnam's two-level game theory, this article argues that netizens support Indonesia's moratorium policy because of cost and benefits considerations, rivalry among states, and meritocratic authorities.

Improving awareness of foreign domestic workers during the COVID-19 pandemic using infographics: An experience during the crisis

The COVID-19 epidemic is a significant humanitarian crisis witnessed in contemporary times, necessitating the exploration of techniques and approaches that might augment the capabilities of individuals within society to mitigate the adverse consequences of this pandemic. Domestic workers have always been an important part of societal structure, and it is essential to ensure their awareness about the perils of the pandemic as well as implement preventive measures. This is crucial in order to effectively address the hazards associated with the ongoing epidemic. The primary objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of infographic technology in augmenting the level of knowledge among foreign domestic workers on the COVID-19 epidemic. The present study employed a quasi-experimental design to examine and compare the effects of infographic technology on the experimental group, while the control group received only public awareness messages disseminated to all citizens and residents. The study sample comprised (16) foreign domestic workers, who were assigned to the two research groups through a random allocation process. The development of the COVID-19 pandemic awareness scale was conducted. The measurement scale consisted of three dimensions: the cognitive awareness dimension, including a set of (12) statements; the performative awareness dimension, comprising a set of (8) statements; and the psychological awareness dimension, comprising a set of (10) statements. The findings demonstrated the superiority of the experimental group, which used the infographic approach, over the control group in fostering awareness of the COVID-19 epidemic throughout its three dimensions among the participants of the study. The study suggested the need of expanding the utilization of infographics in an attempt to enhance knowledge and awareness of the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside the establishment of varied databases for migrant domestic workers. The objective is also to develop an extensive digital awareness strategy about the impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic, so as to include an increased number of informative infographics.

Motherhood and Women’s Migration: Evidence from Foreign Domestic Workers in Hong Kong

Female domestic workers often take on multiple roles in different settings, such as that of mothers and migrants. This study focuses on women’s diverse trajectories in timing motherhood and migration from a temporal perspective. Despite the continuities between their paid work for their employers and unpaid care for their own families, both of which are highly feminized, migrant women often face tensions and conflicts between the two; it is difficult to be a good worker and a good mother at the same time. Drawing on the Survey of Foreign Domestic Workers in Hong Kong, this study provides a quantitative picture of how some women decide to move before becoming mothers and some afterward, as well as their different long-term mobility tendencies. The findings lend support to a selectivity process that highly educated women are more likely to be non-mother migrants; they are more likely to move at a younger age and when they are unmarried. However, over time, migrants who were mothers at the time of their first migration are more likely to conduct multiple moves. Such mixed findings suggest that women’s migration is interrelated with motherhood in complex ways, which may reflect the need of repeated migration by mothers on the one hand, and the gender beliefs that continue to regard migrant women as neglecting their families and deviating from feminine domesticity on the other.

Research Trends of Studies on Psychosocial and Health-Related Behaviours of Foreign Domestic Workers in Asia Pacific: A Bibliometric Analysis.

Foreign domestic workers (FDWs) face challenges that impact their psychosocial well-being and health behaviours. This study utilized bibliometric analyses to examine research trends on the psychosocial and health-related behaviours of FDWs in the Asia Pacific region. The bibliometric analysis comprised citation analysis and co-occurrence analysis. A systematic literature search in academic databases, including Scopus, identified 73 relevant articles published from 1996 to 2023. The growth trend revealed a steady increase in the number of publications on FDWs' psychosocial and health-related behaviours in Asia over the years, with significant growth from 2018 to 2023, indicating an increasing interest in this research area. The citation analysis identified influential studies, active authors, and sources with high publication numbers in this research area. The analysis also examined the geographical distribution of studies, identifying the countries and organizations in Asia that contributed significantly to FDW research. The co-occurrence analysis of keywords identified key themes and concepts in the literature. The most active keywords identified include "COVID-19", "Depression", "Foreign Domestic Workers", "Mental Health", and "Quality of Life". In conclusion, this study provides a comprehensive understanding of the current trends and state of knowledge on the psychosocial and health-related behaviours of FDWs in the Asia Pacific region.

Development of the Arabic Inventory of Parent and Domestic Worker Attachment (A-IPDWA): A tool to assess adolescents' attachment to secondary figures.

Adolescents' attachment security toward parental figures has been assessed in multiple cultures and languages. In some cultural contexts, the presence of a secondary parental figure is ubiquitous, though its effect on children's and adolescents' well-being has been understudied. The present study aimed to validate a culture-specific Arabic instrument of attachment security, in an adolescent sample of Qatar. Since foreign domestic workers (Khadama) play a key role as secondary caring figures in Middle Eastern countries, the new instrument included parents (i.e., mother and father) and domestic workers as providers of attachment security. A sample of 387 adolescents (ages 12-17 years; 48.3% females) participated in the study in the 2020-2021 school term. While 286 students completed the version in modern Arabic, 101 counterparts attending international schools filled in the English version for comparison purposes. Confirmatory Factor Analysis for all three forms (i.e., mother, father, and domestic worker) showed the one-dimension of the Arabic tool. Optimal Tucker's Phi coefficient indicated a comparable one-factor structure of attachment security across linguistic versions. Moderate correlations (positive and negative, respectively) of attachment security towards father and mother (but not towards domestic workers) with family cohesion and family conflict dimensions of the Family Environment Scale provided evidence for the concurrent validity. Gender differences in the links between adolescents' attachment security and family conflict were observed; culturally relevant relationship family patterns are stressed. The practical implications of the Arabic Inventory of Parent and Domestic Worker Attachment (A-IPDWA) validation are discussed.

The influence of meso and macro factors on caregiving of older persons in Singapore: A narrative review

Background Studies on caregiving burden in Singapore typically focus on issues at a personal or micro level. There is a paucity of research focused at a meso or macro level on caregiving. Objective The purpose of this narrative review is to explore the influence of meso and macro factors on caregiving by informal caregivers of older persons in Singapore. Method Studies were identified from sources such as CINAHL, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, as well as other websites for grey literature. Studies focusing on informal caregivers, defined as family, friends, or foreign domestic workers providing care to an older adult (60 and above) were included. Other inclusion criteria include: (a) studies focusing on meso factors (e.g., social norms, community resource, social network) and/or studies focusing on macro factors (e.g., caregiver support policies, workplace policies, care services policies, or caregiver payment policies), (b) studies with outcome measures on caregivers/caregiving such as burden, gains, or grief, and (c) in Singapore. Results & Conclusion A total of 43 studies were included in this review. A range of meso factors influencing caregivers/caregiving were identified. Examples include filial piety, norm of women as caregivers, interventions aimed at helping caregivers, and care services such as day cares. However, the influence of macro level factors (e.g., national level policies) was limited due to a relative paucity of research in this area. Areas for further research were also identified.

UNFREE; INDENTURED; INFLUENCER

Academic scholars from various disciplines have critiqued the nature of migration regimes in which foreign domestic workers (FDW) are hired, drawing from the fields of social, health, and economic justice. We focus on FDWs in Singapore, where these conditions are enforced and rationalized through laws and government-owned-media that entrench socially constructed divisions. This paper considers how the reality of “influencers” who are "unfree" challenges social media studies’ assumptions about what, and who, is a "content creator." The paper offers a walkthrough of the TikTok advertising interface, in order to understand how FDWs adapt to the platform’s environment of expected use (Light et al, 2018). How do TikTok’s platform norms guide and pressure users to adapt to its advertising goals? How do unfree subaltern users adapt to these limits? How, amidst multiple layers of restriction, do FDW influencers use the platform for building self-authored stories of social status and heightened visibility?

“WOULD YOU DATE A MAID?”

The refers to a common video trend we encountered as we set out to analyze how FDWs use TikTok to express personal and sexual sovereignty amid constraining structural surveillance at the level of policy, employer-employee dynamics, and social restrictions. Academic scholars from various disciplines have critiqued the nature of migration regimes in which foreign domestic workers (FDW) are hired, drawing from the fields of social, health, and economic justice. We focus on FDWs in Singapore, where these conditions are enforced and rationalized through laws and government-owned-media that entrench socially constructed divisions. These conditions are rationalized and perpetuated through rhetoric that stigmatizes, stereotypes, and enforces segregation. Intersecting layers of marginalization are created by a labor system that maximally extracts and exploits low-wage migrant workers. Discursive techniques used by state-owned media and legislation also portray FDW as ungovernable and promiscuous employer property that supersedes and eclipses their civil rights (Kaur-Gill, Pandi & Dutta, 2021).

Immigration, household production, and native women’s labor market outcomes: A survey of a global phenomenon

Most of the literature on how immigration affects the labor market focuses on the outcomes of natives in direct competition with immigrants. This paper reviews a growing literature on an alternative channel. Immigrants, particularly low-skilled women, are disproportionately represented in the household services sector, a global phenomenon that is seen to some extent in most regions. A simple time-use model suggests that by lowering the price of market-provided household services, immigrant workers allow high-skilled native women to reduce their unpaid household production and increase their participation in the labor market. I review existing evidence that the presence of foreign domestic workers has increased the labor supply of high-skilled native women, has helped narrow the gender earnings gap in high-paying powered occupations, and that these advances have not come at the cost of native women investing less time in their children or having lower birth rates. I discuss the policy implications of these results, as well as some ethical considerations.

Micromanagement of foreign domestic workers in Singapore: The influence of state regulations and laws

Based on 30 in-depth interviews with employers in Singapore, this article examines how and why employers engage in micromanagement of foreign workers. The results suggest that government laws and regulations influence employers’ exercise of power of the workers. The S$5000 security bond and the day-off regulation shift the responsibility of policing the foreign domestic worker from the state onto the employers. Although some employers may choose to refrain from micromanaging their domestic workers, most employers perceive micromanagement as their legal entitlement. Employers who micromanage their domestic workers tend to engage in micromanagement of three key areas of worker life: their daily routine, social circle, and movement. Therefore, micromanagement is a tool that employers frequently use to guarantee that their S$5000 security bond will not be forfeited.

Economy of marginality and familiarity: Making sense of South Asian migrant breakout business in Hong Kong

This article examines an emerging phenomenon within the South Asian economy in Hong Kong: Disadvantaged entrepreneurs, mainly from Pakistan, Nepal and India, have adopted breakout strategies to target other disadvantaged migrants, particularly Indonesian and Filipino foreign domestic workers. This challenges the widely shared assumption that breakout strategies of migrant entrepreneurs address primarily the mainstream population. By applying Erving Goffman’s notion of frame, we focus on how these entrepreneurs understand and interpret their (change of) market orientation in the context of a specific entrepreneurial environment, where power asymmetries exist in the economic and political constellation between the ethnic majority and various groups of migrants. Regarding methodology, semi-structured interviews were conducted, and analyses were done based on 15 business units with 19 migrant entrepreneurs targeting other marginalised migrant groups with whom they share stigmatisation by the ethnic majority. The findings reveal that four frames around “marginality” and “familiarity” play a crucial role in shaping South Asian migrant entrepreneurs’ market orientation and strategies: a) shared experiences of discrimination, b) unwanted locality as resources, c) common culture, and d) race-based affinity and sympathy. These results contribute to the debates by adding a rather neglected form of market orientation to the diversification of migrant entrepreneurial strategies in existing literature, supplementing the economic and social explanations by applying a cultural sociological perspective of social inequality, and critically reviewing the assumption that breakout automatically generates economic success and social mobility.

Cultivating resilience among Hong Kong's underprivileged ethnic minority groups in the face of a pandemic through a social justice lens

PurposeIn this study, the authors investigated ways to cultivate resilience through a social justice lens among ethnic minorities against COVID-19 in Hong Kong.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative (case study) methodology was adopted to interview 15 social service providers from diverse ethnic backgrounds serving disadvantaged ethnic minority groups (South and Southeast Asian groups from low-income households, foreign domestic workers and asylum seekers/refugees).FindingsTwo major protective factors were identified, contributing to the development of resilience among diverse ethnic groups: (1) individual-based resilience (including being optimistic) and (2) socio-environmental factors (including ongoing support from strong family, peer and religious settings' support, consulates' support, on-going material and nonmaterial donations, support of young volunteers and importance of online connection and communication) using the integration of resilience and social justice frameworks.Originality/valueThis study showed that the protective factors were found to dynamically interact with each other and the environment. The present study recommends additional culturally sensitive service and policy implications for preventing the long-term impact of mass crises among Hong Kong's marginalized minorities.

Report on the Status of Foreign Domestic Workers in Cyprus

Report on the Status of Foreign Domestic Workers in Cyprus

Intermediation Of Foreign Domestic Workers From The Employers’ Perspective Pre-Hiring And In-Service Experiences

Intermediation Of Foreign Domestic Workers From The Employers’ Perspective Pre-Hiring And In-Service Experiences

Exploring Foreign Domestic Workers’ Perceived Contextual Factors That Influence Their Participation in Medical Consultations: An Ecological Lens

ABSTRACT Foreign domestic workers have reported various health problems after moving to Hong Kong, which suggests the need for them to seek medical attention. Yet, much uncertainty exists about their perception of healthcare experiences as patients, particularly how they perceive their communication with ethnic-discordant healthcare providers. Drawing on foreign domestic workers’ perspectives, we extracted non-interpersonal factors from Street’s ecological model and its extension proposed by Head and Bute (2018) and examined how foreign domestic workers perceived these contextual factors affected their communication with healthcare providers. Thematic analysis was conducted on thirty Filipina and Indonesian domestic workers’ narratives. Our findings confirmed that the context of digital media (characterized by Internet use and the adoption of a telemedicine approach) and the context of social ties (characterized by employers’ involvement and everyday communication with friends and peers) were both potential contextual factors that domestic workers reported accounted for their participation in medical encounters. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Future research building on these findings is proposed.

Forgotten and Invisible Laborers: Domestic Workers in Singapore and Taiwan

This paper is about legal yet unjust systems of domestic servitude; the oppressive circumstances that ‘foreign maids’ the world over face as unappreciated, unrecognized, and undervalued workers in the invisible domestic space. Regardless of political culture and regime - liberal democracies to authoritarian governance – ‘maids’ are excluded from normal labor standards. The author explains and discusses the legal blind spots, loopholes, and oversight of labor clauses for foreign domestic workers (FDWs) in the East Asian states of Singapore and Taiwan. This paper aims to spark critical conversations about the public/private divide, also the feasibility of enacting home-based legislation for private household workers. It uses the reviewed literature – relevant research studies, government websites, and news sources – and interview findings to advance its main claims. Between May 2021 and July 2022, the author conducted online semi-structured interviews on WhatsApp/Zoom with 61 people who were directly or indirectly involved in eldercare provision: FDWs, domestic employers, recruitment agency managers, unpaid family caregivers, and NGO workers. The author’s analysis shows that FDWs, called ‘maids’ in the local parlance, face a myriad of shocking abuses by sending/receiving governments, unscrupulous recruitment agencies, and host employers who view them as private property (owned) rather than human beings with needs. This paper argues that FDWs deserve to be respected and included in formal labor laws like the rest of the workforce, to better safeguard their physical safety, mental wellbeing, and personal dignity

Social support and coping among female foreign domestic helpers experiencing abuse and exploitation in Hong Kong

IntroductionIn Hong Kong, female foreign domestic workers are hired to assist with household chores and care. This study examined the coping and support-seeking strategies that the workers use to tackle workplace abuse and exploitation within the structural confines of their employment.MethodsA mixed-method design that incorporated a face-to-face survey with 106 migrant domestic workers and 21 in-depth interviews was adopted.Results and discussionThe results showed that most participants experienced some form of abuse or exploitation. Verbal threats and time exploitation were the most common forms of abuse and exploitation, respectively. Participants' marginalized group status muted their voices when workplace hazards occurred. Accordingly, they preferred emotion-based coping over problem-based coping when encountering abuse and exploitation. Their focus on emotional management was reflected in their acceptance of workplace conflicts as taken-for-granted norms, their avoidance of communicating with employers, and their nonconfrontational endurance of adverse working conditions. Aligned with participants' focus on emotion management, they also reported a stronger need for emotional support than other support functions. Their major sources of emotional support were religious beliefs and other migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong. Employers had the potential to fulfill the workers' support needs, but they must take the initiative due to imbalanced power relations.

The COVID-19 Pandemic in Hong Kong: Exploring the Gaps in COVID-19 Prevention Practices from a Social Justice Framework

Abstract Like many settings worldwide, Hong Kong has recently been combatting the COVID-19 pandemic. Ethnic minorities have reported perceived discrimination via local media outlets. They have been stereotyped as virus spreaders due to the increasing number of confirmed cases and untraceable COVID-19 clusters in Hong Kong. Using a social justice framework, this qualitative study explores gaps in COVID-19 prevention practices to eliminate systemic barriers for ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. Fifteen interviews were conducted with social service providers who worked closely with ethnic minority groups (South and Southeast Asian groups from low-income households, foreign domestic workers and asylum seekers and refugees) during the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong. This study yielded six themes using thematic analysis as follows: (i) lacking mental health support for diverse ethnic minority groups; (ii) lacking efforts to eliminate perceived discrimination; (iii) existing language barriers across diverse services; (iv) lacking channels to disseminate accurate information; (v) a need for advanced technology and (vi) lacking appropriate surgical mask sizes for some ethnic minority individuals. This study recommends culturally responsive practices in Hong Kong.