Migrant Domestic Workers as ‘One of the Family’

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

Twenty-nine-year-old Girlie is one of approximately 4,100 Filipino au pairs in Denmark, 20 of whom I interviewed in Denmark in the summer of 2012. As an au pair, Girlie only works 30 hours a week. She mostly performs light cleaning and sometimes she helps in the kitchen and with afternoon childcare. Her current workload is a vast improvement from her prior job in Singapore where she worked as a domestic worker for five and a half years. In Singapore, she worked from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Her duties included general cleaning, cooking, hand-washing the entire laundry, cleaning the car and doing childcare. By relocating from Singapore to Denmark, Girlie saw a jump in her salary from US$270 to US$580.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationMigration, Diasporas and Citizenship
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
Pages49-64
Number of pages16
DOIs
StatePublished - 2014

Publication series

NameMigration, Diasporas and Citizenship
VolumePart F4711
ISSN (Print)2662-2602
ISSN (Electronic)2662-2610

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Anthropology
  • Cultural Studies

Keywords

  • Domestic Worker
  • Guest Worker
  • Legal Residency
  • Migrant Worker
  • Permanent Residency

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