Live-in Foreign Domestic Workers and their Impact on Hong Kong’s Middle Class Families

Abstract

This paper discusses the impact of foreign domestic workers (FDWs) on parental roles and family dynamics of Hong Kong's middle class families. The increase in married women's labor force participation in Hong Kong has led to a greater demand for childcare, which has been filled by FDWs. Based on interviews with 15 dual-earner couples in middle class nuclear families employing FDWs, how FDWs affect the mother's gender role and family dynamics is discussed. Boundary work is used by parents in their daily interaction with their children and their FDWs so as to reconcile the perceived indispensability of these workers on the one hand, and the challenges they pose to the definition of parenthood on the other.

Associations of Warmth and Control of Filipina Domestic Helpers and Mothers to Hong Kong Kindergarten Children's Social Competence

“…They need to be sensitive to children's needs (Tam, 1999) as well as teach and discipline the children (Hong Kong Christian Service, 2002). These foreign domestic helpers, who were previously teachers, nurses, or low-paid professionals in their home countries (Asian Migrant Centre, 1995), often possess expertise in child caregiving; in general, they report high levels of warmth toward their employers' children (Chan, 2005). Because the caregiver -child ratio is often fairly low within the family compared to in institutionalized day care centers, foreign domestic helpers are able to devote more individual attention to each child they take care of (Clarke-Stewart, Allhusen, & Clements, 1995).…”

“…Moreover, because many foreign domestic helpers are mothers themselves and CAREGIVING STYLES OF DOMESTIC HELPERS AND MOTHERS must leave their homes to earn money for their families, they may sometimes transfer their love for their own children to their employers' children (HondagneuSotelo & Avila, 1997). Some of them even assert that they love their employers' children more than their own children (Chan, 2005). Correspondingly, because of their low social status in the employers' families (Chan, 2005), they may feel pressure to get their employers' children to like them to improve their working situation.…”

“…Some of them even assert that they love their employers' children more than their own children (Chan, 2005). Correspondingly, because of their low social status in the employers' families (Chan, 2005), they may feel pressure to get their employers' children to like them to improve their working situation. Thus, they would prefer to do everything for these children (Hong Kong Christian Service, 2002).…”

“…Thus, they would prefer to do everything for these children (Hong Kong Christian Service, 2002). Nevertheless, because of their aforementioned low social status in the family (Chan, 2005), they sometimes do not assume the authority to discipline their employers' children. As a result, they are likely to exert low levels of control in caregiving (Hong Kong Christian Service, 2002).…”

“…This is because when children and foreign domestic helpers spend a substantial amount of time together, children are likely to view the helpers as their "second mothers" (Bakan & Stasiulis, 1997). Some mothers thus worry that the close attachment with the helper might overshadow their own relationships with their children (Chan, 2005;Tam, 1999). As a result, mothers who have employed foreign domestic helpers to take care of their children may report low self-ratings in warmth because they may feel guilty for leaving others to take up the important roles of looking after their children and for not being available to spend substantial amounts of time with their children (Chan, 2005;Tam, 1999).…”