The Commodification of Domestic Care: Illegitimacy of Care Work and the Exploitation of Migrant Workers

In her discussion of migrant women domestic workers in the US, the author explains that American immigration and welfare policies, the US labour market and gender-based concepts that deny acknowledgement of domestic work as legitimate; all contribute to the formation of an underground economy that exploits female care workers who are primarily from developing countries. She argues that "care workers should be offered legal protections, benefits, and rights afforded to 'legitimate' forms of employment in our labor market". She ends with a discussion of possible solutions to ameliorate the situation of migrant domestic care workers. [Descriptors: Migration - Labour Migration, International - North America]