engleski

Olders caring for the elderly: circular migration of older women as an alternative strategy to unemployment or retirement

The aging population, shrinking of the welfare state, and marketisation of the care sector in the developed countries have pushed caregiving in the private household to become the largest employment sector for migrant women (Lutz, 2018). The research of this phenomenon has focused on younger female migrant’s juggling of care work, caring roles, and maintaining of transnational families. Care provided to the elderly by the older women within the European labour markets has been left aside. The question of what meanings such later in life employment in the care sector has for the older women’s (work) lives and retirements remains consistently unanswered. Stemming from a broader research project on understanding women’s circular labour migration experiences in the sectors of care, agriculture and hospitality, this paper describes elderly migrant women’s entrance to the international labour market and the work conditions within the care sector in the private household. Eight narrative interviews were conducted with older women (57-67 years of age) from the Croatian region of Slavonija who have engaged in circular migrations for work as carers in the private households in Italy, Germany, and Austria. The interview schedule included topics on the beginnings of their circular labour migration and their lifeworld description, specific labour migration experiences, employment in the sector, everyday life and bi- local connections, and reflection and perception of their homeland life. The participants’ entry into the international labour market of caring is marked by structural socio-economic changes in Croatia, which pushed these elderly workers to prolonged unemployment periods. Their decision to enter the labour migration as carers was a “last resort” strategy that represented the exit from debt or poverty. These women obtain unskilled carers’ positions, which implies that they possess gendered taken- for-granted skills necessary for the provision of care. However, their caring roles include provision of more skilled healthcare services and household management tasks. They, accustomed to being valued and respected within their pre- migration occupational status, find themselves demanding respectful treatment from employers and continually negotiate firm professional boundaries with clients, although often being exposed to continuous verbal and physical abuse. In these instances, the migrant social network acts as a safety net for precarious work and employment conditions. The network provides caregivers with information on available jobs and their work conditions, transportation, sharing of knowledge on dealing with clients, and emotional support concerning psychological exhaustion brought on by work. These women, neglected by the domestic labour market because of their age and gender, find themselves employable and employed precisely because of their age and gender. Here, their age is not an obstacle to gaining paid work, and their gender turns to capital since the content of their caregiver jobs is reflected in their gendered roles and activities. Out of financial necessity, utilizing their domestic labour market disadvantages and the associated gendered skills, these women are persistently pioneering non-traditional retirement pathways.

older workers, women, care work, work experiences, circular labour migrations, narrative research

nije evidentirano