The employment of migrant nannies in the UK

Negotiating Social Class in an Open Market for Commoditised in-Home Care

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3977868
AutoresNicky Busch (Birkbeck, University of London, autor de correspondencia)
Año2013
Volumen14
Número5
Páginas541-557
Fecha de publicación2013-08-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSocial & Cultural Geography (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1464-9365 • E-ISSN: 1470-1197
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14649365.2012.736528
OpenAlexW2035707868
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas16
Referencias citadas27

Migrant women are important sources of labour in the commoditised in-home childcare sector in many regions of the UK. Jobs in this sector, which include nannies as well as au pairs, babysitters, housekeepers and mothers' helps, are often low paid and low status with pay and conditions being determined by employers' circumstances and whims. This article draws on primary data and secondary sources to illustrate the ways in which employers compare migrant nannies with British nannies and other childcare workers in terms of the social class and formal education levels of different groups, with the aim of explaining why migrants are perceived as high-quality candidates for what are often low-paid, low-status jobs. I argue that employers negotiate inter-class relations in this gendered form of employment by understanding their relationship with the migrant nannies they have employed in the context of broader global inequalities—these inequalities are then reproduced and reaffirmed in private homes and across UK culture and society

Class (philosophy · Context (archaeology · Demographic economics · Economic growth · Economics · Geography · Inequality · Labour economics · Negotiation · Political science · Social class · Social science · Sociology · Employment and Welfare Studies · Gender Studies · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics