Social Protection for Migrant Domestic Workers in Singapore

International Conventions, the Law, and Civil Society Action

Bibliographic Data

ID3757063
AuthorsB S A Yeoh (0000-0002-0240-3175, National University of Singapore, corresponding author), Charmian Goh (Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore), Kellynn Wee (0000-0002-6939-3784, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore)
Year2020
Volume64
Issue6
Pages841-858
Publication date2020-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Behavioral Scientist (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7642 • E-ISSN: 1552-3381
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0002764220910208
OpenAlexW3009849723
LanguageEN
Citations received26
References cited26

Although migrant women from neighboring Southeast Asian countries fill crucial care gaps in Singapore households as live-in domestic workers, their social protection remains uneven, uncertain, and indeterminate. Framed as unskilled work shunned by citizens and characterized by isolation in the privatized sphere of the home, domestic work has invariably become low-status, low-visibility, and low-pay work performed by foreign women engaged on private contracts. The access of migrant domestic workers in Singapore to social protection has thus triggered concern among international organizations, governments, and civil society. Using data derived from a survey of Indonesian domestic workers, interviews with key stakeholders, and archival research, this article adopts a transnational social protection research agenda by mapping how institutionalized practices that aim to reduce the vulnerabilities of migrant domestic workers in Singapore have shifted in the past decade. We begin by addressing the circumscribed impact of international conventions and origin government policies. Following our premise that the social support and protection of migrant domestic workers still depend largely on the host society, we focus on two interrelated developments in Singapore. First, we examine the reach of immigration, labor, and criminal law in recent "maid abuse" cases to reveal how criminal law in particular has broadened to account for the specific vulnerability of domestic workers and, relatedly, the culpability of errant employers. Second, we consider how civil society's campaign for a "mandatory" rest day offers insight into both the success and limitations of developing transnational advocacy for domestic workers in Singapore

Civil society · Domestic violence · Economic growth · Economics · Poison control · Political science · Politics · Social protection · Sociology · Suicide prevention · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Sex work and related issues