Indian Council of World Affairs

Approximately two-thirds of the global care workforce are womenⁱ. While these women in the host countries are contributing positively to health and well-being, they encounter challenges. There has been a rising demand for migrant women workers as caregivers, particularly in European and Gulf countries. This increase in number of migrant women contributing to the care workforce has been driven by various factors. 

This issue brief aims to look at: the essential drivers for an increased women’s migrant care labour force and the challenges faced by women migrant care workers in the European and Gulf regions. A comparative assessment of the experiences of women migrant workers in these two regions has been made to contextualise the unique case of migrant domestic workers and caregivers. 

Defining the care economy 

The care economy is an essential part of the welfare economy. Care work is broadly defined as comprising activities and relationships involved in meeting the physical, psychological, and emotional needs of adults and children, old and young.ⁱⁱ The care economy is sometimes also known as the purple economy.ⁱⁱⁱ

Care work is composed of overlapping activities and can be paid and unpaid. It consists of direct and personal care activities, such as contributing to elderly homes and health care services. It also consists of indirect care activities or domestic work which takes place in the home of other people and involves indirect care activities such as cleaning, doing laundry, cooking and running errands. ^ivCare workers work in public and private settings Care work is a highly gendered job performed mostly by semi-skilled and less skilled migrant women. The ILO (2024 Policy Brief) estimates that women account for three-quarters of the 75.6 million domestic workers globally. They play an increasingly prominent role in securing and protecting the health status of others and are contributing both to health in the broadest sense and to health systems. ^vThe service sector relies heavily on women due to their large demand in the care economy. 

Demand and supply of migrant women care workers in Europe and the Gulf 

The demands for care in developed countries are rapidly increasing because of a combination of changes in population growth, modernizing economies and rising social development standards. There has been a rising unmet demand for care workers in developed countries. However, the distribution of migrant women care workers has been considerable in Europe and the Gulf countries. There are several factors which contribute to such demands. 

European societies are experiencing a demographic transition characterised by an ageing population and the demand for care work has rapidly increased. The old-age dependency ratio (people aged 65 or above relative to those aged 15- 64) is projected to grow in Europe by 21.6 percentage points, from 29.6% in 2016 to 51.2% in 2070. ^vi The change in demographics has dramatically increased the social and economic cost of elderly care.^vii Downsizing of the existing welfare systems and lower funding in care services in countries such as Germany, Austria, Spain and Italy have caused the European care sectors to rely on migrant women as it becomes cost-effective. So, when elderly home assistance and public nurseries become scarce and there are fewer adults to look after the sick and the elderly, the migrant women workers fill these gaps.^viii

In Europe, the demand for care work is met by intra-EU migrant and non-EU migrant women. For instance, the Western European states rely on workers from Eastern and Central European countries such as Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic.^ix The Western and Southern European states of Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands and Spain rely on a foreign labour workforce from less developed countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America for live-in care work that mostly comprises women. The shortage of care workers is therefore met by migrant women's care force.^x

In the Gulf region, the demand for caregivers has grown with the economic growth. In Saudi Arabia, 77 per cent of women migrant workers are domestic workers, while 16 per cent of men migrant workers are domestic workers. In Abu Dhabi, 83 percent of women migrant workers are domestic workers.^xi

These growing demands of care workers have been met by migrant women workers from Southeast Asia and South Asia. In 2021, the Philippines contributed a significant number of healthcare professionals working abroad, totalling 316,000. Among them, approximately 130,000 nurses were working in Saudi Arabia.^xii

What are the challenges faced by migrant women care workers in Europe and the Gulf?

Despite their immense contributions, migrant women workers face many challenges. There are many common challenges they face, such as underpayment, poor working conditions, health and well-being issues and exploitation. Their work is labour-intensive and requires heavy physical work. They are vulnerable to injury due to the kind of work they engage in. Long hours of strenuous work like lifting patients, cleaning, washing and standing for continuous hours is physically demanding. Having access to health services is difficult for migrant women workers. Accessing information or connecting with trade unions is difficult. However, some of the experiences of these migrant women care workers are different in the European and Gulf regions. 

Firstly, despite access to certain rights and welfare measures available for migrants, women in Europe face issues such as violations of gender-specific labour rights. They face abuse and restriction of movement. They are often isolated. There are also numerous cases of overtime with no payment, contract breach or absence of a proper contract that can lead to exploitation. ^xiiiIn the European market, care work in homes remains unregulated and underpaid among other occupations in the international labour market. Care work can be carried out in informal settings. Domestic work also does not fall under ‘proper’ employment and its regulation can be incomplete.^xiv

Secondly, the important role of live-in care workers is undervalued economically. Migrant women workers often face the issue of the pay gap. They are the lowest paid in the workforce. According to a study conducted by Amnesty International, in Austria, women are generally paid nearly 20% less than men. Migrant workers are paid 25% less than nationals, and migrant women are paid 26.8% less than non-migrant women. Migrant women caring for older people are often paid below the minimum wage.^xv These migrant women workers are often overqualified for the work that they perform.^xvi The long-term care workers in Europe are mostly women and face such issues.^xvii

In contrast, in the Gulf, a key challenge is the exploitation of migrant women care workers. These migrant women workers experience poor conditions across the care workforce and are particularly vulnerable to exploitation. Domestic workers are often excluded from labour law regimes. Since they work informally, they do not receive the protections.^xviii They face long difficult working hours, loneliness as well as culture shocks. These women face mistreatment at the hands of the employer and difficulty in accessing medical treatments.^xix

Another major hurdle in the Gulf has been the sponsorship system. The workers can only work for their employer’s sponsor for the length of their contract, usually two years. If the employer breaks the contract, the worker’s visa is cancelled, and they are immediately repatriated. This gives employers an incredible amount of power over workers, who may not report abuse for fear of retaliation ^xx In Kuwait, for instance, the sponsorship system poses challenges to migrant women. They must receive approval from the Ministry of Interior and Labour Court to transfer jobs without consent from their employer.^xxi

The employer has complete control over their employees. They maintain employees’ visa status and immigration status during their contract period. This high degree of control makes migrant workers highly dependent on their employers. The migrant women workers are isolated and exposed to exploitation. The migrant women are criminalised for escaping and are trapped in a series of abuses. The employers often withhold migrant women’s passports and restrict their freedom of movement. 

Responses from the European and Gulf countries

Despite challenges, the host countries of the Gulf and Europe have recognised the importance of migrant women care workers and have attempted to alleviate their issues. 

EU 

The focus of the EU has been on creating policies to integrate migrant women into their societies. The EU Commission has emphasised migrant women as an important target group. Integration policy has become increasingly important at the EU level and there are efforts to develop a common approach for integration within a coherent European framework. The EU Commission stresses that the integration of migrants becomes even more important as the economic and social aspects of demographic ageing become more significant.^xxii

The two key developments have been,

1.  The 2000 Resolution was issued by the European Parliament regarding domestic work regulation. The Committee on Women’s Rights and Equal Opportunities demanded that measures be adopted to protect migrant women workers. The European Resolution recommends that the state form reception centres for migrant women workers facing psychological and physical stress. ^xxiii

2.  The recent 2022 European Parliament resolution of 5 July 2022 towards a common European action on care, aims to focus on reforms to recognize the rights of caregivers and alleviate the issues of migrant women workers.^xxiv

The implementation of integration policies remains a Member State responsibility. Each member state has its own policies and measures to integrate migrant women. For instance, France has planned several measures to facilitate migrant women's job search and training opportunities by offering adequate childcare services. The Neighbourhood Mothers project, implemented in Austria and Finland and based on a Danish model, aims to increase the self- empowerment and well-being of migrant women. The idea is to train migrant women to provide support to other women on their integration path. ^xxv

Gulf

In the Gulf, the pressure on the governments to bring reforms and meet international standards has been increasing. Therefore, a platform such as the Abu Dhabi Dialogue is useful to bring changes. The Dialogue brings key sending countries from South Asia and the destination countries of the Gulf such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Thematic discussions in the Dialogue highlight the need for a deeper understanding of the issues facing women migrant workers. It aims to build a better relationship in the labour migration corridors of the Asia-Gulf region. 

Pressure from the origin countries on the member states of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue has been important. For instance, in the recent 7th Ministerial Consultations of Abu Dhabi Dialogue, 2024, India highlighted the use of technology to decrease the cost of sending remittances. India and UAE signed an MoU in this regard in July 2023 linking the "UPI” of India and the "Aani” of UAE. This mechanism can be adopted by other Member States of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue.^xxvi

India engages with destination countries to protect migrant workers abroad. India has proactively signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with numerous countries, including the GCC countries and European countries such as Germany, to facilitate and improve mobility and migration. These agreements aim at streamlining the migration process and enhancing the welfare of Indian emigrants. ^xxviiTo safeguard the interests of its citizens working abroad, the Indian government has entered into manpower and domestic workers agreements with a range of countries, including those in the Gulf. 

Moreover, individual countries of the Gulf also make efforts to address the challenges faced by migrant women workers. The Qatari government has taken significant steps to limit sponsors’ power over workers by removing the requirements for workers to obtain exit permits and no-objection certificates (NOC) to change employers and by creating laws that protect migrant workers against forced labour.^xxviii

Conclusion 

It is important to identify why the demand for migrant women workers is rising in both the European and Gulf regions. Migrant women in the care economies of these areas face numerous challenges, although their experiences differ. The gendered division of labour exists at all levels of society. Policies and agreements in Europe and the Gulf indicate a growing recognition of the importance of migrant women workers' rights. Addressing the challenges faced by migrant women in the care economy through a gender lens can help create safer spaces for them.

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*Akanksha Singh, Research Intern, Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi
Disclaimer: Views expressed are personal.

Endnotes

ⁱ Addati, Laura, Umberto Cattaneo, Valeria Esquivel, and Isabel Valarino. Care work and care jobs for the future of decent work. International Labour Organisation (ILO), 2018.

ⁱⁱ Daly, Mary E., ed. Care work: The quest for security. International Labour Organization, 2001.

ⁱⁱⁱ The Purple Economy, also sometimes referred to as the care economy, obtains its name from the color adopted by many feminist movements. It represents a new vision of economics that recognizes the importance of care work, empowerment and autonomy of women to the functioning of the economies, well-being of societies, and life sustainability -United Nations Economist Network. PURPLE ECONOMY (CARE ECONOMY+).                                                                                                        PURPLE

ECONOMY(CAREECONOMY+),n.d.https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/purple_economy_14_march.pd f.
^iv United Nations Economist Network. PURPLE ECONOMY (CARE ECONOMY+). PURPLE ECONOMY (CARE ECONOMY+), n.d. https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/purple_economy_14_march.pdf.

^vWorld Health Organization. "Women on the move: migration, care work and health." (2017).

^vi Spasova, S., Baeten, R., Coster, S., Ghailani, D., Peña-Casas, R. and Vanhercke, B. (2018). Challenges in long-term care in Europe. A study of national policies, European Social Policy Network (ESPN), Brussels: European Commission.
^vii Windebank, Jan. “Irregular Migrant Domestic Workers in Europe: Who Cares?” Journal of Contemporary European Studies 22, no. 2 (April 3, 2014): 237–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/14782804.2014.923663.

viii Ibid

^ix Hussein, Shereen. "The global demand for migrant care workers: Drivers and implications on migrants’ wellbeing." Sustainability 14, no. 17 (2022): 10612.

^x Katona, N., and E. Zacharenko. "The Dependency on East-To-West Care Labour Migration in the EU." Addressing Inequalities and Exploitation. Budapest: Office Budapest Friedrich-Eber-t-Stiftung (2021).

^xi Marie-José Tayah and Hadi Assaf The Future of Domestic Work in the Countries of

the Gulf Cooperation Council A study commissioned by the Secretariat of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue among the Asian labour-sending and receiving countries

^xii Alexandrova , Yva Recruitment and Mobility of Migrant Women in the Health Sector in the Abu Dhabi Dialogue Corridors , 10 February 2024

^xiii Kontos, MariaBetween Integration and Exclusion: Migrant Women in European Labor Markets, March,23 https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/between-integration-and-exclusion-migrant-women-european-labor- markets#:~:text=In%20an%20effort%20to%20inform,and%20migration%20policies%20%E2%80%94%20affe ct%20new

^xiv Pavlou, Veronica. "The case of female migrant domestic workers in Europe: human rights violations and forward looking strategies." Deusto Journal of Human Rights 9 (2011): 67-84.

^xv Amnesty International. “Austria: Women Migrant Care Workers Demand Rights,” March 21, 2024. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2021/07/austria-women-migrant-care-workers-demand-rights/.

^xvi Anita, O. R. A. V. "Migrant women and the EU labour market: Overcoming double discrimination." (2023).

^xvii © European Union, 2022 - Source: European Parliament. “Texts Adopted - Towards a Common European Action on Care - Tuesday, 5 July 2022,” n.d. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2022- 0278_EN.html.

^xviii Addati, Laura, Umberto Cattaneo, Valeria Esquivel, and Isabel Valarino. Care work and care jobs for the future of decent work. International Labour Organisation (ILO), 2018.

^xix Esim, Simel, and Monica Smith. "Gender and migration in Arab states." The Case of Domestic Workers, ILO, Beirut (2004).

^xx King Center on Global Development. “Highlighting the Experience of Migrant Domestic Workers in the Arab Gulf Region,” January 23, 2023. https://kingcenter.stanford.edu/news/highlighting-experience-migrant- domestic-workers-arab-gulf-region.

^xxi International Labour Organization 2021, Regulatory Framework Governing Migrant Workers: Kuwait, p. 3. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—arabstates/—ro-beirut/documents/publication/wcms_776524.pdf. [21 February 2022].

^xxii Kontos, Maria. "Integration of female immigrants in labour market and society." A coparative Analysis. Summary, Results and Recommendations. FeM-iPol. Frankfurt am Main: Institute of social research at the Goethe University (2009).

^xxiii Pavlou, Veronica. "The case of female migrant domestic workers in Europe: human rights violations and forward looking strategies." Deusto Journal of Human Rights 9 (2011): 67-84.

^xxiv © European Union, 2022 - Source: European Parliament. “Texts Adopted - Towards a Common European Action on Care - Tuesday, 5 July 2022,” n.d. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2022- 0278_EN.html.

^xxv Anita, O. R. A. V. "Migrant women and the EU labour market: Overcoming double discrimination." (2023).

^xxvi Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. “Statement by Secretary(CPV & OIA) at the 7th Abu Dhabi Dialogue Ministerial Consultation (February 10-11, 2024),” n.d. https://www.mea.gov.in/Speeches- Statements.htm?dtl/37633/Statement+by+SecretaryCPVOIA+at+the+7th+Abu+Dhabi+Dialogue++Ministerial+ Consultation+February+1011+2024.

^xxvii https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/india-should-address-gaps-in-executing-its-migration- related-policies-pacts-expert/article68285874.ece

^xxviii Mechale, Abenezer, Carlos Montes, Gloria Mpundu, Natalie Napolitano, and Claire Sliney. “Reducing Precarity for Female Domestic Migrant Workers in the Kafala System.” World House Student Fellows Policy Projects 2020-21, 2021. https://global.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/perry-world-house/Migrant%20Workers.pdf.