Outsourcing Elderly Care to Migrant Workers: The Impact of Gender and Class on the Experience of Male Employers

Abstract

This article, based on semi-structured interviews, addresses masculinity in the international division of reproductive labour through an analysis of the impact of gender and class on the outsourcing of elderly care services to migrant care workers. In the Italian context, characterised by a limited provision of long-term care services and by cash-for-care benefits, the strategies of men as employers of migrant care workers are shaped by class and gender. The outsourcing of care to migrant workers reproduces hegemonic masculinity in so far as male employers are able to withdraw from the ‘dirty work’. At the same time, men engage with tasks which are, in principle, kept at a distance. The employers’ family status, combined with their class background, are crucial factors in shaping the heterogeneity of men’s experiences as employers and managers of care labour, and the ways in which they make sense of their masculinity.

Spousal care-giving arrangements in Europe. The role of gender, socio-economic status and the welfare state

“…The distinction between solo and shared care seems thus an especially important aspect when describing male care-giving, as men have been shown to more readily accept help with caring tasks (Mutchler and Bullers, 1994; Bond et al , 1999; Henz, 2009). Moreover, men have been described as embracing a more delegating or ‘managerial’ approach to organising care (Deufert, 2013; Gallo and Scrinzi, 2016). We thus expect men to exhibit a higher likelihood of both outsourcing and sharing the care of their spouses, while women are expected to be more likely to act as solo care-givers.…”

Re-defining the Stay-behind Indonesian Men: Changing Masculinities in the Context of Women’s Transnational Migration

“…Although not all of my male informants were heavily involved in managing their wives' remittances, those who embody reproductive masculinities engage in most, if not all, of the domestic burdens that rural women traditionally take. Unlike many other studies that suggest that left-behind men outsource reproductive labor to extended families to avoid taking on "women's work" (Gallo & Scrinzi 2016;Lan 2008;Lam and Yeoh 2018), in this research, many of my male informants saw their performance of childcare and housekeeping as crucial for legitimating their non-material contributions to the family, especially in the context of high divorce rates involving migrant women. Andi, for example, told me that he partook in childcare and monitored how he spent his wife's remittances as a means to avoid marital discord that often emerged when wives became breadwinners:…”

Migrant masculinities in-between private and public spaces of reproductive labour: Asian porters in Rome

“…The article highlights the important role of employersin our case the residentsin the gendered and racialised construction of workplaces. Employers are crucial in driving the demand for migrant labour by targeting specific ethnic groups (MacKenzie and Forde 2009; Gallo and Scrinzi, 2016b). In non-skilled service sector jobs, employers project onto migrant workers naturalised qualities of subordination, which are associated with the migrants' so-called 'culture' (Anderson 2007).…”