Abstract
European societies are currently facing serious challenges in responding to a large and growing demand of long-term care services. To a varying, but overall substantial, extent this increasing demand is satisfied through migration, with migrant women workers representing everywhere a considerable share of the workforce available in the care sector. In this paper two key questions arising from these observations will be addressed: What has been the specific role of migration in addressing labour shortages in the care sector across Europe? And, secondly, what are the drivers of the different immigration policy approaches adopted? Drawing on EU-LFS data I will describe the main entry channels of migrant care workers, also distinguished by skill and occupational level, to highlight the specific immigrant labour supply policy mix adopted by national governments. Recent theories of managed migration policies will be critically assessed to ultimately discuss their ability to explain the immigrant labour supply policy mix in the care sector.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ambrosini, M. (2013a). Irregular Migration and Invisible Welfare, Palgrave Macmillan.
Ambrosini, M. (2013b). Immigration in Italy: between economic acceptance and political rejection. Journal of International Migration and Integration 14(1): 175–194.
Ambrosini, M. & Cominelli, C. (2005). Un’assistenza senza confini: Welfare ‘leggero’, famiglie in affanno, aiutanti domiciliari immigrate. Milan, Osservatorio Regionale per l’integrazione e la multietnicità della Lombardia, Fondazione ISMU. [Care without borders: “ligth” welfare, families under strain, migrant caregivers.].
Anderson, B. (2007). A very private business: exploring the demand for migrant domestic workers. European Journal of Women’s Studies 14(3): 247–264.
Anderson, B. (2010). Migration, immigration controls and the fashioning of precarious workers. Work, Employment & Society 24(2): 300–317.
Anderson B. (2012). Who needs them? Care work, migration and public policy. Cuadernos de Relaciones Laborales. 30(1), p. 45–61.
Anttonen, A. & Sipilä, J. (1996). European social care services: Is it possible to identify models? Journal of European Social Policy 6(2): 87–100.
Arango, J. & Finotelli C. (2009). Past and future challenges of a Southern European migration regime: the Spanish case. IDEA Working Papers n∘ 8, May 2009. URL: http://www.idea6fp.uw.edu.pl/pliki/WP8_Spain.pdf
Bettio, F. & Plantenga, J. (2004). Comparing care regimes in Europe. Feminist Economics 10(1): 85–113.
Bettio, F., Simonazzi, A., Villa P. (2006). Change in care regimes and female migration: the ‘care drain’ in the Mediterranean. Journal of European Social Policy 16(3): 271–285.
Bettio, F. & Verashchagina, A. (2010). Long-Term Care for the elderly. Provisions and providers in 33 European countries. Rome, EU Expert Group on Gender and Employment (EGGE) — Fondazione G. Brodolini, Rome.
Brennan, D., Cass, B. et al. (2012). The marketisation of care: rationales and consequences in Nordic and liberal care regimes. Journal of European Social Policy 22(4): 377–391.
Buchel, F. & Frick, J. R. (2005). Immigrants’ economic performance across Europe — does immigration policy matter? Population Research and Policy Review 24(2): 175–212.
Cangiano, A. (2012). Immigration policy and migrant labour market outcomes in the European Union: New evidence from the EU Labour Force Survey. FIERI Working Papers. Turin, FIERI, URL: www.labmiggov.eu
Cangiano A. (2014a). Elder care and migrant labor in Europe: a demographic outlook. Population And Development Review 40(1): 131–154.
Cangiano A. (2014b). Migration policies and migrant employment outcomes: conceptual analysis and comparative evidence for Europe, Comparative Migration Studies, 2(4): 417–444.
Cangiano, A., I. Shutes, et al. (2009). Migrant care workers in ageing societies. Oxford, Centre on Migration, Policy and Society, University of Oxford.
Cangiano, A. & Walsh, K. (2013). Recruitment processes and immigration regulations: the disjointed pathways to employing migrant carers in ageing societies. Work, Employment & Society. first published on November 13, 2013 doi:10.1177/0950017013491453
Castagnone, E., Salis, E. et al. (2013). Promoting integration for migrant domestic workers in Italy. International Migration Paper n∘115. Geneva, International Labour Office.
Colombo, F., Llena-Nozal, A. et al. (2011). Help Wanted? Providing and Paying for Long-Term Care. Paris, OECD Publishing.
Condon, S., Lada, E. et al. (2013). Promouvoir l’intégration des travailleuses et travailleurs domestiques migrants en France. Cahiers des migrations internationales No. 117. Géneve, OIT — Office International du Travail.
Da Roit, B., Le Bihan, B. et al. (2007). Long-term care policies in Italy, Austria and France: Variations in cash-for-care schemes. Social Policy & Administration 41(6): 653–671.
Da Roit, B & Sabbatinelli, S. (2013). Nothing on the move or just going private? Understanding the freeze on child- and eldercare policies and the development of care markets in Italy, Social Politics, 20(3): 430–453.
Devitt, C. (2012). Labour migration governance in contemporary Europe. The case of France, FIERI Working Papers, Turin: FIERI. URL www.labmiggov.eu
Devitt, C. (2014). Government responses to foreign worker demand during economic crises: the cases of Britain and France 2008–2013, Comparative Migration Studies, 2(4): 445–468
Einaudi, L. (2007). Le politiche dell’immigrazione in Italia dall’Unità a oggi. Bari, Laterza. [Immigration policy in Italy from 1861 to date.]
Esping-Andersen, G. (1990). The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Princeton, Princeton University Press.
European Commission (2012). Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Towards a job rich recovery, COM(2012) 173final.
Fujisawa, R. & Colombo, F. (2009). The Long-Term Care Workforce: Overview and Strategies to Adapt Supply to a Growing Demand. Paris, OECD Publishing.
Gallotti, M. & Mertens J. (2013). Promoting integration for migrant domestic workers in Europe: A synthesis of Belgium, France, Italy and Spain. International Migration Paper n∘118. Geneva, International Labour Office.
Geerts, J. (2011). The Long-Term Care workforce: description and perspectives. ENEPRI Research Report No. 93. URL: http://www.ancien-longtermcare.eu/sites/default/files/ENEPRIRR93_ANCIENWP3_0.pdf
Kilkey, M., Lutz, H. et al. (2010). Introduction: domestic and care work at the intersection of welfare, gender and migration regimes: some European experiences. Social Policy and Society 9(03): 379–384.
Kofman, E. (2013). Gendered labour migrations in Europe and emblematic migratory figures. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 39(4): 579–600.
Kraus, M., Riedel, M. et al. (2010). A typology of long-term care systems in Europe, ENEPRI Research Report No. 91, URL: http://www.ceps.be/book/typology-long-term-care-systems-europe
Lavenex, S. (2006). The Competition State and the multilateral liberalization of skilled migration, in A. Favell, ed., The human face of global mobility, international highly skilled migration in Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 29–54.
Le Grand J. (1991). Quasi-Markets and Social Policy. The Economic Journal, 101(408): 1256–1267.
Lister, R., Williams, F. et al. (2007). Gendering citizenship in Western Europe: new challenges for citizenship research in a cross-national context. Policy press, Bristol.
Lutz, H. & Palenga-Möllenbeck, E. (2010). Care work migration in Germany: semi-compliance and complicity. Social Policy and Society 9(03): 419–430.
McGovern, P. (2012) Inequalities in the (de-)commodification of labour: immigration, the nation state, and labour market stratification. Sociology Compass 6(6): 485–498.
Menz, G. (2008). The political economy of managed migration Non-state actors, Europeanization and the politics of designing migration policies. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Menz, G. & A. Caviedes (2010). Labour Migration in Europe, Palgrave Macmillan.
Ministero del Lavoro e delle Politiche Sociali (2012). Secondo rapporto annuale sul mercato del lavoro degli immigrati. Roma, Direzione Generale Immigrazione. [Ministry of Labour and Social Policies (2012). Second annual report on labour market integration of immigrants, Rome.]
Moriarty, J. (2010). Competing with myths: migrant labour in social care, In: Ruhs, M. & Anderson, B. (eds.) Who Needs Migrant Workers? Labour shortages, immigration, and public policy. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Morokvasic, M. (2004). Settled in mobility: engendering post-wall migration in Europe. Feminist Review 77(1): 7–25.
Naldini, M. & Saraceno, C. (2008). Social and family policies in Italy: not totally frozen but far from structural reforms. Social Policy & Administration 42(7): 733–748.
OECD (2013). International Migration Outlook 2013, OECD Publishing.
Pannell, K & Altman, M. (2009). Minding the Gap: feminist perspectives on policies affecting immigrant labor in the domestic services industry in Europe. Cahiers de l’Urmis URL: http://urmis.revues.org/810
Parreñas, R.S. (2000). Migrant Filipina domestic workers and the international division of reproductive labor. Gender & Society 14(4): 560–580.
Pasquinelli, S. & Rusmini, G. (2010). La regolarizzazione delle badanti. In: Network Non Autosufficienza: L’assistenza agli anziani non-autosufficienti in Italia. 2∘ Rapporto, Sant’Arcangelo di Romagna, Maggioli Editore. [The regularization of migrant caregivers. In: Network Non Autosufficienza: Care to dependent elderly in Italy. 2∘ Report.]
Pastore, F. (2010). Managing migration through the crisis. Evolving patterns in European policies on labour migration and mobility. FIERI Working Papers. Turin, FIERI. URL: www.labmiggov.eu
Pastore F. (2014). The Governance of Migrant Labour Supply in Europe, Before and During the Crisis. (Introduction) Comparative Migration Studies, 2(4): 385–416.
Pastore, F., Salis, E. & Villosio, C. (2012). L’Italia e l’immigrazione low cost: fine di un ciclo?, Paper presented at the V ESPANET-Italia Conference, Rome, 20–22 September 2012, available online at www.espanet-italia.net
Pastore, F. & Salis, E. (2013). Managing labour migration in times of crisis. Comparative overview. Research Paper. Brussels, European Policy Centre. URL: http://www.eu-asia.eu/publications/migration-integration/
Salis, E. (2012). Labour migration governance in contemporary Europe. The case of Italy. Turin, FIERI Working Papers. URL http://www.labmiggov.eu/country-reports/
Salis, E. (2013). The internationalization of care regimes. A concept paper. FIERI Working papers. Turin, FIERI. URL: http://www.labmiggov.eu/working-papers/
Shutes, I. & Chiatti, C. (2012). Migrant labour and the marketisation of care for older people: The employment of migrant care workers by families and service providers. Journal of European Social Policy 22(4): 392–405.
Sciortino, G. (2004). Immigration in a Mediterranean welfare state: the Italian experience in comparative perspective. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice 6(2): 111–129.
Shire, K. (2014). Family supports and insecure work: the politics of household service employment in conservative gender regimes, Paper presented at the XVIII ISA World Congress of Sociology “Facing an unequal world: challenges for global sociology”, Yokohama, 13–19 July 2014.
Simonazzi, A. (2009). Care regimes and national employment models. Cambridge Journal of Economics 33(2): 211–232.
Schwenken, H. & Heimeshoff, L.M. (eds) (2011). Domestic workers count: global data on an often invisible sector, Kassel University Press, Kassel.
Triandafyllidou, A. (2013). Irregular Migrant Domestic Workers in Europe: Who Cares?, Ashgate Publishing, Limited.
Ungerson, C. (2003). Commodified care work in European labour markets. European Societies 5(4): 377–396.
Van Hooren, F.J. (2012). Varieties of migrant care work: Comparing patterns of migrant labour in social care. Journal of European Social Policy 22(2): 133–147.
Williams, A. (2006). Lost in translation? International migration, learning and knowledge. Progress in human geography, 30(5): 588–607.
Williams, F. (2010). Convergences and divergences in the employment of migrant care workers in European welfare regimes. ISA world congress of sociology. Gothenburg, Sweden.
Williams, F. (2012). Converging variations in migrant care work in Europe. Journal of European Social Policy 22(4): 363–376.
Williams, F. & Brennan, D. (2012). Care, markets and migration in a globalising world: Introduction to the Special Issue. Journal of European Social Policy 22(4): 355–362.
Yeates, N. (2012). Global care chains: a state-of-the-art review and future directions in care transnationalization research. Global Networks 12(2): 135–154.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
About this article
Cite this article
Salis, E. A Crucial Testing Ground. CMS 2, 519–545 (2014). https://doi.org/10.5117/CMS2014.4.SALI
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5117/CMS2014.4.SALI