Migrant Workers Research Articles

Omission Culture as an Impact of Social Mobility of Migrant worker

That the large number of Tulungagung people who choose to become migrant workers abroad indicates that the wheels of economic development are still not optimal. The industry has not yet developed rapidly, so the government needs to create a quality business and investment climate by providing incentives and ease of investment and business, so that it can create and open up new jobs as widely as possible for the people that the large number of people who choose to become migrant workers abroad indicates that the wheels of economic development are still not optimal. The industry has not yet developed rapidly, so the Tulungagung Regency Government needs to create a quality business and investment climate by providing incentives and ease of investment and business, so that it can create and open up new jobs as widely as possible for the people. Through the interview method with the research subjects, there is a phenomenon that requires a new, better cultural building due to the impact of the culture of going to work abroad. This study found the fact of omission culture, which means the neglect or acceptance of the actions of migrant workers, both negative and positive, as a form of tolerance for their profession as migrant workers. This omission migrant culture is often found in migrant worker families who tolerate 1. Infidelity, changing partners, temporarily changing partners and/or returning to the original partner and/or changing partners permanently 2. Neglect if the children of the worker's family members are not cared for.

"You're Just Stuck in a Hole, Really": Mechanisms of Structural Racism Through Migrant Agricultural Worker Housing in Canada.

Worldwide, migrant agricultural workers face poor housing conditions and related health challenges. A growing body of research has documented the substandard housing often occupied by this largely racialized population. Yet limited health research has examined mechanisms of structural racism that determine this group's poor housing and health. Drawing on interviews with 151 migrant farmworkers in Ontario and British Columbia, Canada, we documented the housing experiences faced by migrant agricultural workers and examined the role of structural racism in determining housing and health inequities. Our analysis identified four overlapping mechanisms by which migrants' housing and health were determined by structural racism: (1) scarcity, (2) segregation, (3) sacrifice, and (4) stagnation. These mechanisms both reinforced and normalized housing hardships, making it difficult for migrants to escape unsafe or inadequate housing. Our findings point to the need for immediate action to improve housing conditions for this population and to interrogate the racist design that keeps migrant workers at the margins of society.

Navigating integration challenges: Insights from migrant dairy farm workers in New Zealand

As the global demand for milk products continues to increase and dairy sectors become more concentrated, a pressing question arises: who will milk the cows and where will they come from? Mirroring global trends, the New Zealand dairy industry has experienced significant structural changes, with a shift from family-run dairy farms to larger commercially orientated operations. At the same time, domestic socio-economic and demographic changes have resulted in rural to urban migration. These factors have contributed to a shortage of skilled labour in some regions. To meet its labour demands, the New Zealand dairy sector has relied increasingly heavily on temporary migrant workers, who face significant challenges integrating into their new communities. This study uses data from in-depth interviews with 25 migrant dairy farm workers in Canterbury, New Zealand, and a modified conceptual framework for integration developed by Ager and Strang to enhance our understanding of how skilled migrants in the dairy sector adapt to unfamiliar host communities. Through thematic analysis we identify the factors that either facilitate or hinder the successful integration of this important but vulnerable group. Key themes include motivations for moving to New Zealand, pathways to obtaining their positions, and the primary challenges that they experience in attempting to integrate. Challenges include physical and social isolation, discrimination, and a lack of access to key services. As the agricultural sector continues to grow, it is essential to provide migrant farm workers with adequate support to ensure their successful social, cultural, and economic integration.

Intersectional employee voice inequalities and culture care theory: the case of migrant palliative care nurses inSaudi Arabia.

This narrative literature review examines intersectional employee voice inequalities in a non-Western, high power distance context to develop a multilevel conceptual framework. The authors use Leininger's (1997, 2002) culture care model to explore multilevel influences on intersectional voice inequalities. The article applies insights from a review of 31 studies to the specific challenges of migrant palliative care (PC) nurses in Saudi Arabia. The themes identified in the review indicate how better transcultural communications might mitigate voice inequalities that influence migrant employee wellbeing and intentions to quit which result from cultural incongruities. The impact of national culture differences and intersectional inequalities on employee voice has largely been ignored in academic research. This paper offers unique insights drawing on culture care theory into intersectional voice challenges from a non-Western perspective in the underresearched setting of Saudi Arabia which is mid-way through a national transformation program. It starkly contrasts policy ambitions for advancing healthcare with discriminatory practices based on conservative attitudes which stifle migrant worker voices.

Race, space, and social reproduction: The spatial organization of racialized labour in Italian food agriculture

This article addresses the question of migrant workers’ exploitation from a feminist political economy and critical race perspective. Overall, my analysis promotes a reinterpretation of workers’ exploitation beyond a narrow focus on labour and production, and towards a consideration of the active social differentiation and reproduction of the work force. Based on my analysis of Black African workers’ conditions in the Italian ‘tomato district’ of Northern Puglia and Basilicata, I argue that recent anti-gangmastering reforms have recalibrated existing tensions between formalizing and informalizing workers’ conditions, tensions that serve the double end of ensuring capital accumulation in agri-food production, while forcing racialized workers to take care of their social reproduction. Formalization, I argue, tends to drive a wedge between ‘productive labour’ and unpaid, ‘unproductive’ work, thus removing responsibility away from firms and state agencies to provide much-needed workers’ welfare. Informalization, I argue, represents a particular racializing dynamic of externalizing the cost of social reproduction to the workers and their extended social networks, who, in this manner, indirectly subsidize parallel circuits of accumulation.

A REVIEW OF ECONOMIC PROBLEMS FACING THE UAE

This review explores the major economic challenges currently facing the UAE. Monopoly power in key sectors like telecommunications and energy restricts competition, leading to higher consumer prices and less innovation. Economic inequality is rising, driven by stark contrasts between high-earning expatriates and low-wage migrant workers. Migrant labor, essential to the UAE’s economic growth, presents social and economic challenges, including wage disparities and limited labor rights. Housing prices, especially in Dubai, remain a concern due to fluctuations and issues of affordability. Despite efforts to diversify its economy, the UAE’s heavy dependence on oil leaves it vulnerable to global market shifts. Additionally, rapid urbanization has raised significant environmental concerns, including pollution and resource depletion, prompting the need for sustainable development. Together, these interconnected issues present long-term challenges for economic stability and social development in the UAE. KEYWORDS: Vision 2021 - A national agenda to position the UAE as a top global nation by its 50th anniversary in 2021 Vision 2030 - Abu Dhabi’s plan for economic diversification and sustainable urban growth by 2030 COP28 - The UAE-hosted 2023 UN climate summit to discuss global actions for limiting climate change Etisalat (e& UAE) - The UAE’s largest telecom provider, rebranded as e& in 2022 for digital transformation ADNOC - Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, one of the world’s leading energy producers and oil exporters DEWA - Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, responsible for energy and water infrastructure in Dubai Kafala System - A labor sponsorship system that governed foreign workers’ employment and residency in the UAE

Representation of migrant workers in Chinese newspapers: combining topic modeling and critical discourse analysis

Abstract Chinese migrant workers have contributed greatly to the industrialization and urbanization of China and have thus long been a popular topic in news reports. Most previous studies on the news about this group have been qualitative or quantitative analyses based on small-scale datasets, with few based on large-scale corpus data. This study combined topic modeling and critical discourse analysis (CDA) to analyze 186,180 reports of migrant workers published by 906 Chinese newspapers between 2001 and 2021. We identified seventeen topics in the news that fell into five categories: “work and labor,” “support and care,” “rights and interests,” “homecoming,” and “social emergencies.” Overall, news reports on the group have become increasingly diverse, with various diachronic changes in the proportions of topic categories and specific topics. In addition, we found three major types of representation of migrant workers: as a disadvantaged group, as outsiders, and as a group vulnerable to risks. These negative representations might be closely related to government policies, ideology, media stance, and social reality (the broader societal context in which these individuals are situated).

Infrastructures of Social Reproduction: Migrant Survival and Economic Development at the Thailand-Myanmar Border

International migration literature has shown that infrastructures consisting of people and institutions sustain migration and help migrants cope in new environments. However, analytic focus on these infrastructures is often limited to the migration process and its impact on migrants. This article extends the growing literature on migration infrastructure by analyzing its socially reproductive capacities in the context of economic development in Thailand. Drawing on ethnographic and interview data from the Tak border zone, I show how the social and humanitarian dimensions of migration infrastructure that grew from war displacement, labor migration, and migrant survival efforts became essential to economic development aims of the Thai state. Through this case, I illustrate a process of infrastructural co-optation by which the state harnesses grassroots and humanitarian actors’ capacities for childcare, education, and healthcare to advance such aims. Authorities spatially contain migrant workers with limited rights and social protections while loosely engaging with parts of the border's infrastructure, which keeps noncitizen workers alive and available for low-wage jobs. The findings show that aspects of migration infrastructure are co-optable, with impact beyond the migration process and for non-migrants.

Research on the impact of land transfer out on the citizenship identity of migrant workers: evidence from China

Enhancing the citizenship identity (CI) of migrant workers (MW) is a crucial avenue for fostering the development of new urbanization. This paper, based on data from the China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS), examines the impact and mechanisms of land transfer out (LTO) on the CI of MW. The study finds that LTO significantly promotes the CI of MW. After addressing endogeneity issues and performing robustness checks, the conclusions remain significantly valid. Mechanism tests reveal that LTO can notably increase the degree of family reunification and boost total household income, both of which substantially elevate the CI of MW.

Restrictive immigration policies and MNE innovation

AbstractHigh-skill migrant workers significantly contribute to advanced economies by directly generating knowledge-intensive assets and serving as bridges to knowledge in their origin countries. However, rising populist sentiment has led to increased immigration restrictions in wealthy economies like the U.S. and the Europe Union. This study examines the impact of the 2004 H-1B visa cap reduction on U.S.-based multinational enterprises (MNEs). We use a sample of 371,856 patents assigned to 707 U.S.-based MNEs. We find that post-shock, MNEs increased the geographic dispersion of their global R&D workforce, rather than replacing foreigners with local American workers. Despite this, the firms experienced a decline in innovation performance, likely due to elevated coordination challenges. Interestingly, sectors relying more on codified knowledge demonstrated increased R&D team dispersion with less impact on innovation. This suggests that the geographic proximity of innovation teams is crucial for tacit knowledge-intensive sectors. These findings highlight the complex consequences of immigration restrictions and suggest boundary conditions on the effectiveness of work-from-anywhere models in knowledge-intensive industries.

Caring for Indebted Migrant Workers: Financial Literacy Training, Debt, and Filipino Migrant Workers in Dubai

This article explores the politics of care that undergird state and private initiatives that seek to assist overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Dubai. In addition to their precarious work conditions in the city, levels of debt are believed to be on the rise even among those categorized as professional, skilled, and semiskilled. These workers thus become the ideal subjects of financial literacy training programs aiming to turn them into “financially mature” individuals free from debt and capable of becoming future entrepreneurs if and when they return to the Philippines. This article highlights the ways in which financial literacy education, despite being framed as an act of care, can still work to obscure the specific political economic and structural conditions that produce and maintain debt among Filipino migrant workers in Dubai. Following Raghuram (2016), I “trouble care” to shed light on the “hidden geographies” of migrant worker debt and the challenges and complexities that need to be taken into account in caring for them. This article seeks to empirically and theoretically contribute to discussions on how debt can be viewed and used to constitute and shape future migrant solidarities.

Toward Postsecular Feminism: Intersectionality and the Religious Subjectivities of Women Migrant Workers in China

This article investigates the subjectivities of Christian women migrant workers within the context of China’s social transformation, characterized by the interactive advancement of global capitalism, rural-to-urban migration, and “Christian fever.” Despite the burgeoning literature on women migrant workers in global capitalism within geographical scholarship, there has been less focus on women migrants’ religious subjectivity and agency. Drawing on empirical research on the intersectional experiences of women migrant workers, this article seeks to advance a postsecular feminism by bringing intersectionality into conversation with debates on postsecularity and gender inequalities. First, we examine the intersectional “matrix of domination” imposed through state power, Chinese patriarchal culture, and the gendered and class-based disciplinary labor regime under global capitalism, which serves as an ontological condition in which women migrants’ religious subjectivities form and are shaped. Second, we use intersectionality to help understand the process of becoming and a relation of emergence, wherein multiple agential qualities of women migrants—manifesting as counterpatriarchal subjects or through docile, tolerant, self-sacrificial, and pious femininity—arise at the intersections of religion, class, gender, and family. We therefore argue that postsecular feminist critique needs to carefully consider the patterns and diverse effects of intersectionality where both domination and religious agency are engendered and interwoven.

Personal Financial Management Training for Indonesian Migrant Workers in Hongkong

Hong Kong became the country most frequently chosen by Indonesian Migrant Workers (IMW) in 2021. The reasons that motivate IMWs to work in Hong Kong are the relatively high wages offered and the atmosphere of freedom. However, the departure of IMWs abroad has not significantly contributed to improving their quality of life. Observations made through various mass media sources (Dewi et al., 2022) concluded that many Indonesian Migrant Workers (IMW) still lack sufficient knowledge and understanding of financial dimensions or aspects. Therefore, education on the importance of financial management for IMWs is crucial. This is because the majority of IMWs do not yet possess adequate knowledge regarding financial management. The form of education is delivered through training aimed at teaching IMWs about the importance of financial planning. The materials provided include budgeting, saving, budget tracking, and investment, which are essential for effective personal financial management. It is hoped that this training will equip IMWs with the necessary knowledge to make sound financial decisions. After the training sessions, a post-test was conducted using the same procedure as before, where participants were given a questionnaire with 10 multiple-choice questions. The post-test results showed that, compared to the pre-test, the proportion of correct answers for each question was significantly higher. On average, the proportion of correct answers for all questions was above 90%. Thus, it can be concluded that the provision of training and assistance on investment and personal financial management was effective in improving the financial literacy of IMWs in Hong Kong.

Factors affecting the labor migrat to Thailand of people in Phonthong District, Champasak Province

This research are to investigate the factors that influence labor migration to Thailand in Phon Thong District, Champasak Province. The primary data for this study was obtained from household interviews conducted in the Phon Thong District of Champasak Province. Particularly, households in five villages where a greater number of workers migrate to work in the Kingdom of Thailand, like Khanat village, Sackmaung village, Samanh village, Xongxay village, and Phaling village, are 336 households. The Logit Model was used to determine the factors influencing labor migration to Thailand. The research findings show that the gender of the household head, the amount of labor in the home, having access to routes, and household debt are factors that positively affect the increasing number of people migrating to Thailand to find jobs. At the same time, the factors that have a negative effect on the decreasing number of migrations of workers to work in Thailand are: agricultural production area, production efficiency, access to irrigation systems, and the ability to find jobs locally, which reflect the external pressure that causes the migration of labor outside the country. According to an analysis of the effects of labor migration to Thailand on household economies, households with household members employed there have higher incomes, expenses, and household property than households without household members employed there, by 23.78%, 20.77%, and 21.26%, respectively. The average amount of money earned from working and bringing home to the family each year is 18,040.90 baht per person, which can significantly improve the quality of life in the household

Taxation and entrepreneurship of migrant workers: evidence from China

PurposeMigrant workers play a vital role in the development of countries such as China. However, they often face greater barriers in entrepreneurship. Yet, few studies have focused on the effect of institutional factors on migrant workers' entrepreneurial behaviors. To address this gap, this study concentrates on the role of taxation.Design/methodology/approachThis study takes the agricultural tax abolition reform implemented in rural China since 2004 as an exogenous shock and uses the difference-in-difference (DID) method to examine its effect on migrant workers' entrepreneurship based on longitudinal data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS).FindingsWe find that the reform significantly improves the probability of migrant workers engaging in entrepreneurship. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the reform exerts a notably more pronounced positive impact on male, younger and migrant workers in the Western region. Further analysis reveals that the three main mechanisms are increased household income, female human capital accumulation and increased social capital, including social networks and social trust.Originality/valueThis study is first to offers an institutional perspective on the determinants of migrant workers' entrepreneurship in China. Additionally, the study can provide insights for policymaking intended to support employment and entrepreneurship among low-skill migrant workers.

Aging With Emerging Social Welfare and Disappearing Filial Piety: Chinese Migrant Workers' Pathways Toward Financial Retirement Planning.

This study examines the pathways and mechanisms linking Chinese migrant workers' migration experiences and their financial retirement planning. Using a mixed-methods approach with 1083 surveys and 32 interviews, this study finds that having a good financial status and social support system and maintaining a hopeful attitude toward retirement are direct pathways toward good financial retirement planning. Good health and hope for retirement are further enhanced by a good financial status and social support. Conversely, poor health and negative employment experiences are linked to poor financial retirement planning. The qualitative findings provide a contextual understanding of the pathways identified in the quantitative analyses. Migrant workers often face a dilemma between self-reliance for retirement and relying on filial piety. These findings apply not only to Chinese migrant workers but also to all migrant workers with limited access to healthcare and public pensions for retirement.

Coping with temporariness: Space appropriation of South Asian migrants in Muscat, Oman

AbstractThis article deals with the practices of South Asian migrant workers appropriating space in Muscat, Oman. Due to temporary employment contracts, low income, and long working hours, in addition to living in a fragmented car‐dependent city, their access to the city is spatially and temporally limited. This raises the question of their opportunities and limitations for space appropriation in Muscat. In this paper, we first describe the urban and political context that leads to their limitations and temporalities. We then establish a theoretical framework to define the roles of space, migration, and time. Adopting a qualitative approach combining interviews and observation, we then focus on one location as a case study and analyse how its visitors, low‐income and middle‐income migrant workers, appropriate space according to their daily needs. Highlighting the tension between rigid constraints and constant change, we conclude by presenting the social and spatial products of the process of space appropriation and respond to the discourse on the production of space through the lens of temporary migration.

Access to healthcare services and factors associated with unmet needs among migrants in Phuket Province, Thailand, 2023: a cross-sectional mixed-method study

BackgroundPhuket Province is a major tourist destination with a migrant workforce accounting for 10% of its population. Despite governmental efforts to adjust health insurance policies, migrants face healthcare access challenges. This study examines the current healthcare access situation and factors associated with unmet needs among migrants in Phuket Province.MethodsWe used a cross-sectional mixed-methods approach, recruiting participants through snowball sampling from the Migrant Health Volunteer Network. Quantitative data were gathered using self-administered questionnaires, with unmet need defined as desired outpatient or recommended inpatient services not received at government hospitals. Multivariable logistic regression identified unmet need predictors, and we assessed the mediating effect of health insurance status. Qualitative data from three focus groups on healthcare access provided context and enriched the quantitative findings.ResultsThis study includes 296 migrants mainly from Myanmar. The overall unmet need prevalence was 14.86%, mainly attributed to having undocumented status (34.09%), affordability issues (20.45%), and language barriers (18.18%). Working in the fishery industry significantly increased unmet needs risk (aOR 2.68, 95% CI 1.08–6.62). Undocumented status contributed a marginal total effect of 4.86 (95% CI 1.62–14.54), with a natural indirect effect through uninsured status of only 1.16 (95% CI 0.88–1.52). Focus group participants used various medical resources, with insured individuals preferring hospital care, but faced obstacles due to undocumented status and language barriers.ConclusionValid legal documents, including work permits and visas, are crucial for healthcare access. Attention to fishery industry practices is needed. We recommend stakeholder discussions to streamline the process of obtaining and maintaining these documents for migrant workers. These improvements could enhance health insurance acquisition and ultimately improve healthcare affordability for this population. These insights could be applied to migrant workers in other urban and suburban area of Thailand regarding access to government healthcare facilities.

THE ROLE OF MENTORING PRACTICES IN THE FORMATION OF SUSTAINABLE STAFF IN HEALTHCARE IN MOSCOW

Many countries around the world are faced with the problem of a shortage of medical workers due to insufficient investment in medical education, inconsistencies between training and employment strategies for medical personnel and the needs of the healthcare system, complicated by the lack of human resources for healthcare in remote areas and the migration of medical workers. One of the tools for developing medical personnel and forming a stable workforce is mentoring, which should be used throughout the working life of employees, and not only during the adaptation process of young employees. The purpose of the study is to identify the role of mentoring in reducing staff turnover and forming a sustainable workforce.

Understanding seafarers’ physical and mental health

ABSTRACT This study delves into the comprehensive examination of the quality of life of Turkish seafarers operating worldwide, utilizing the SF-36 health Survey to assess both physical and mental health components. Statistical analyses of the data, gathered from 955 Turkish seafarers, offer insights into the demographic factors influencing their quality of life. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to determine the association of demographic and work-related characteristics with psychological and mental health status. Findings indicate that Turkish seafarers exhibit a physical health status better than migrant female workers but worse than university professors, and approximately the same as aircraft manufacturing and healthcare workers, aligning with existing literature on other occupational groups. Moreover, older age groups, particularly those in authoritative positions such as master’s and chief engineers, demonstrate significantly poorer physical health. The study also highlights the mental health challenges faced by cadets, suggesting interventions to address their vulnerable state. Notably, while 25.2% of participants exhibit low physical health scores, a concerning 46.0% report poor mental health scores.