Families in Trouble and Demand for Care Services: The Formation of an Invisible Welfare and the Contribution of Migrants

Abstract

We have already observed that the domestic sphere and care activities are magnets for irregular immigrants seeking employment. For the reasons outlined in the previous chapter, the controls in this area are particularly difficult and unpopular, and there is in fact a large degree of tolerance towards the use of unauthorized migrants in this sector, despite the more restrictive tendencies of recent years. Neither employers nor the migrants involved, mostly women, are the target of severe forms of social stigmatization, in sharp contrast to the more general public discourse on illegal immigration. One can say that, in everyday interactions and social practices, they are not perceived or treated as immigrants illegally present on national territory exploiting the resources of the receiving societies, and guilty of what in many countries is considered a criminal offence. A fortiori, their employers, in the predominant representations of them, are not accused of being smugglers and exploiters of irregular immigrants