Female migrant domestic workers: reconciling the lives of those who reconcile. (DOI: 10.2436/20.3005.01.39)

Abstract

International migration is currently characterised by a feminisation trend, with women making up approximately half of the migration flow. However, although this affects migration behaviour and routes, gender is not usually present as a distinct variable. The article draws attention to female domestic workers and their low visibility in the public debate. At the same time, the threefold risk of social exclusion (for being women, migrants and in informal employment) must be taken into account. This group has provided significant support to many European families allowing women, who continue to assume greater responsibility for household work than men, to reconcile family and professional life. Key questions reflected in the article are the reconciliation of work and family life from the perspective of women domestic workers, who in turn help other women tackle the work-family dynamic, and the opportunities for female domestic workers to participate and thus integrate in the host society. Inequality in employment rights and the fact that many domestic sector activities are unregulated does not favour these two processes. Although these aspects have not been addressed in depth within the public debate, women’s movements working within the framework of dialogic feminism are formulating fair and effective strategies for social inclusion and equal opportunities.

Keywords: gender, migration, conciliation, inclusion.