Migrant and/or Care Workers? Debating the Ethnicization of the Elderly Care Market in Italy and the United Kingdom

Abstract

Care marketization has generally supported ethnicization of care work in many countries. While economic and institutional theories have explained how migrants have been included as functional workers, the social inclusion of them in the hosting societies has been largely neglected. Focusing on the role of ideas and public discourse, this article considers through a content analysis of newspaper articles how the role of migrant care workers has been the object of public discussion in two countries characterized by care marketization: Italy and the United Kingdom. It shows how ethnicized care markets have been differently legitimized through distinct social and cultural dynamics

Role and Characteristics of Personal Care Assistants of Frail Older People with Functional Limitations Ageing in Place in Italy

“…In this respect, this country represents a family-based model of LTC, since family caregivers usually support their older frail relatives at home [ 57 ]. However, following the decreasing availability of family care arrangements, PCAs represent a bridge to ageing in place and reproduce familism [ 58 ]. The Italian elder care model has thus moved from being “familism by default” to “implicit-supported familism” [ 59 ] (p. 174), and the “woman-in-the family” has been often complemented by the “migrant-in-the-family” [ 60 ] (p. 65).…”

“…Thus, due to lacking public welfare and LCT provisions (especially in-kind services), and under a “spending review” regime, the Italian State has favoured a “family welfare”, mainly providing direct monetary transfers and delegating the management and responsibility of care to families [ 34 ]. Further authors stress this issue, by stating that in Italy the overall presence of PCAs is allowed by the existence of a considerable unregulated labour market [ 58 ], that in turn is supported by cash for care allowances (e.g., IA), with families acting as employers and hiring such care workers often outside the formal economy. In Italy, PCAs, especially when are migrant workers with precarious working conditions, face indeed several inequities in accessing to labour protection [ 73 ].…”

“…In Italy, PCAs, especially when are migrant workers with precarious working conditions, face indeed several inequities in accessing to labour protection [ 73 ]. Since there are strict immigration laws in this country, and a regular employment contract is requested to obtain a residence permit as well as to access to welfare services, various ad hoc regularizations processes of undeclared PCAs with a migration background have been provided [ 58 , 74 ], mainly as “ex post facto approval system” of migrant policy [ 59 ] (p. 171), with the latest occurring in the period June–August 2020, and recording about 122,000 applications [ 75 ].…”

“…According to further sources [ 61 , 68 ], PCAs living-in with formal contracts should be officially paid about EUR 1000–1200 per month, following their skills and tasks. In some cases, however, low wages of PCAs allowed relatively low-cost private care services, as substitute or complement of public ones [ 58 ]. Especially in rural sites in Calabria, no regular contract was referred by respondents.…”

Home-Care Workers’ Representations of Their Role and Competences: A Diaphanous Profession

“…Studies in the Italian context have mainly focused on socio-economic issues related to elderly care-work policies and trends ( Glucksmann and Lyon, 2006 ; Lyon, 2006 ; Elrick and Lewandowska, 2008 ; Di Rosa et al, 2012 ), as well as gender and ethnicity issues related to care ( Bettio et al, 2006 ; Näre, 2013 ; Ranci et al, 2019 ; Scrinzi, 2019 ).…”