Because arriving takes courage: exploitation of women with a migration background through care work

care work? What is that? – System relevant!

Childcare, household chores, nursing and care for the elderly - all of this is care work. It does not matter whether it is organized institutionally or privately and whether it is remunerated. However, private care work remains largely invisible. For decades, activists in feminist movements have drawn attention to the systemic relevance and poor working conditions of care workers. Many of them are migrants.

Globalized care chains at the expense of migrant women

A International Labor Organization (ILO) report according to it, in 2015 there were an estimated 11,5 million people worldwide who left their homes and families to work in private households. Migration usually runs along an international gradient, both from the so-called Global South to the Global North and from countries in the East to economically dominant countries in the West. In the analysis, this is referred to as “globalized care chains” or “global care chains”.

Most care workers – around 80 percent – ​​can be found in the countries with the highest average incomes, including Germany. As birth rates fall, these aging societies have increasing care needs. The changed family structures in these countries also lead to a care gap, the so-called care gap, since women are increasingly employed and less involved in housework.

But women with a valid residence status are also exposed to such precarious employment conditions in the care sector. In the MUT 3.0 project, we can report on our experience that women with a migration background are often placed in cleaning, nursing or caregiving jobs, even if they have qualifications or professional experience in another area.

Exploitation, especially in nursing, cleaning or care professions

In order to fill this gap, migrant women and their living conditions are exploited. Because the migrant workers originally arrive at their new place of residence with other wishes and goals, namely to achieve better living conditions. They get caught in a vicious circle and work in inhumane working conditions. They often work illegally for fear of having to return to places where they have already experienced dire living conditions. Precarious residence and work rights are exploited by employers.

Convention 189 remains fictional

In 2013, Convention 189 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) was ratified in Germany. The Convention upholds the labor rights of domestic workers. Almost ten years later, however, they are still fighting to be recognized as employees and service providers. The pay is still below minimum wage. In addition, employees have little or no access to the health system. Those affected need it more than ever: racism, isolation and psychological pressure are stressors they have to deal with every day.

The reality of many care workers is therefore in contrast to the goals of the United Nations Agenda 2030. For example, Goal 8 on Decent Work and Economic Growth provides to “[protect] labor rights and promote safe working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, especially women migrant workers, and those in precarious employment. "

Deriving from this problem situation, we as DaMigra eV demand:

The real and formal legalization of illegalized people so that they have access to labor rights, compliance with the ILO Convention Paragraph 189 ratified by Germany, state-defined standards for private recruitment agencies and for companies in the healthcare sector, and the establishment of multilingual advice centers.

This post was created as part of the campaign for our film "Because arriving takes courage". In the documentary, three women with a history of migration report on their way into the German labor market and the hurdles they have to contend with. The film will be released on this website on Migrant Day, 18.12.22/XNUMX/XNUMX.