September, 17, 2014

INTERSECTION BETWEEN MIGRATI

ON AND CARE REGIMES IN EAST A
SIA

Assoc. Prof. Reiko Ogawa

Graduate School of Social and Cultural
Studies
Kyushu University
reiogawa@scs.kyushu-u.ac.jp

Background of the Study:

Demographic change
Outsourcing of Reproductive Work
Feminization of Migration
In Taiwan, approx. 200,000 migrants are working
as caregivers which shares 62% of the long term c
are workforce (Wang, 2010).
In Japan, under the Economic Partnership Agree
ment (EPA), migrant caregivers are working in car
e facilities.
In Korea, minimum 15,000 to maximum 54,000 C
hinese Korean women are engaged in care work.

Literature Review

Migration Studies: Feminization of migration,

New International Division of Reproductive L
abor (NIDRL), Global Care Chains (GCC) (Ho
chschild, 2000; Parrenas, 2001)

Social Welfare Studies: Comparative welfare

regimes, methodological nationalism (Espi
ng-Anderson, 1990, 1996; Yeates, 2001, 20
09)

Intersection between migration-care regime

needs to be explored

Objective:

Comparison between how the migration regim

e and care regime has been configured in Japa
n and Taiwan
Similarities: demographic challenges of low fert
ility rate and aging society, accepting migrants
as caregivers from the same countries in Sout
heast Asia
Differences: institutional framework
Question: How does the intersection of migrati
on regime and care regime shape the entitleme
nt of the migrants and the social status of care?

Migration and Care Regimes

Migration Regime
Citizenship Permanent vs. Temporary
Ethnic ties- De-ethnicization vs. Re-ethnici
zation
Care Regime
Welfare provider- Familialist vs. De-familiali
st
Professionalization of long-term care occu
pation- license vs. non-license

Difficulty in Conceptualizing Care Work

New Occupation, feminized job, unclear job descript
ion, ambiguous expertise/skill
<Japan>
EPA
(skilled?)
migran
(semi-skilled?)
ts
<Taiwan>
(semi-skilled?)
migran
(unskilled)
ts
<Korea>
Chinese
(semi-skilled?)
Korean
(unskilled)
migrants
Domestic worker (unskilled)

Migration of Caregivers to Japan

Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the

Philippines (2006 , Indonesia (2007) and Vietnam
(2008)
Conditions from the Japan Nursing Association to pa
ss the national exam for caregiving (kaigo fukushishi)
within a limited time. If they cannot pass, they have t
o return.
Migrants will receive one year free Japanese languag
e training
Involvement of the state agencies in recruitment, de
ployment, training and allocation of caregivers
Migrants are allowed to work only in institutions

Who are the migrant caregiver

s?

Indonesian caregiver candidates are all grad

uates of nursing school. (D3 or S1)
Filipino caregivers are either RN with less th
an three year of clinical experience or unive
rsity graduate with any major and complete
d the 6 months caregiver course by TESDA.

Migration Regime

Caregiving is lumped together with nurse in lin

e with the immigration policy which only accep
ts the highly skilled
Once they pass the national exam, they can ext
end their visa for unlimited period of time. Fami
ly reunion is allowed.
Equal salary and labor standard law is applied
as the Japanese co-workers
Monthly salary is between 120,000 yen ~212,9
40 yen (Average 160,000 yen=US$1,500)
Care facilities has to shoulder approx. 600,000
yen (US$5,600) per person including matchin
g, partial cost for training and domestic transpo
rtation.

Care Regime

The candidates are incorporated into the Long T

erm Care Insurance (LTCI)
Migrants are expected to pass the national exam
on caregiving. However, unlike physicians or law
yers that require occupational license, the work
of caregiving is not restricted to the certified car
egivers.
Care facilities are in average shouldering 2.2 mil
lion yen for the educational cost of the migrants
in four years (Tsubota et al. 2012).
Once the candidates pass the exam, they can tr
ansfer to another care facility.

Migration-Care Regime Nex

us

Governed by two conditions: a. Migrants ha

ve to be employed at the same condition as
Japanese; b. Migrants have to pass the nati
onal exam within a limited period of time
Permanent residency and family reunion is
allowed once they are certified
Migrants are incorporated into the public c
are system that allows them upward mobilit
y but the costs are too expensive for the em
ployers and the state to be sustainable

Migration of Caregivers to Taiwan

Modeling the Singaporean migration regim

e, acceptance started in 1992
Approx. 210,000 migrants from Indonesia,
Philippines and Vietnam work in private ho
mes and institutions.
Since 2012, the migrants can work up to 1
2 years without any license.
Live-in caregivers are not covered under th
e Labor Standard law.

Who are the migrant caregiver

s?

Nationality: Indonesia 77%, Filipinos 12%, Vietnamese 10%,

Thailand 1% (CLA, 2011)
Educational background: Less than junior high school 56%, H
igh school graduate 37%, University graduate 6%
Salary: home care NT$15,840, institutional care NT$18,780
Working hours: home care-no one was working on a fixed tim
e, institutional care-approx. 12h
According to the government report, migrant caregivers in ho
me care work for 13.1~13.28h but in the 26 interviews +2 ho
urs
Among the 26 interviews to employers none of the migrant w
orker had a day off in a week. Often, overtime payment is incl
uded in the contract. Some did not have a day off for three ye
ars.

Care work as accompany

The actual work of migrant caregivers at ho

me are to accompany the elderly.
Aside from elderly care, domestic work and
child care are undertaken. Sometimes, the
work can be extended to domestic work at t
he employers siblings household or office.

Care Regime
National Pension System pro
vides NT$3,000 per month
(US$100)
Elderly has to depend on the
family for financial means
Social stigma towards institu
tional care
Migrants are supposed to ha
ve 90h training in their hom
e countries
If you employ a migrant, you
cannot use the Taiwanese c

Migration-Care Regime Nexus

Privatization of care made the families to outs

ource care to the migrants
Migrants became the most flexible and afforda
ble care workforce
Citizenship and family reunion are not allowed
Migrant are not incorporated into the Taiwane
se care system
Migrants work without training which may jeo
pardize the safety of the elderly

Nexus between
Migration and Care
Regime 1 EPA
Medical
Visa
(nurses,
midwifer
y)

Defamiliali
st

Migrant
s 206
pax.

De-ethnicizaton

Marriage
Migrants

Migrant
Caregivers
200,000 pax.

Stude
nts

Marriag
e
Migrant
s

=Japan

Taiwan

Korea

Re-ethnicizati
on

Korean
Chinese
Migrant
Caregiver
s

(Re-)
familiali
st
Korean
Chinese
Marriage
Migrants

Nexus between
Migration and Care
Regime 2
Migrants
with
Resident
Permit

Without
license
Studen
ts

Migrant
Caregivers
200,000

Permanent
Residency

Marriage
Migrants
Marriag
e
Migrant
s

EPA
Candidat
es
Korean
Chinese
Migrants
(Josonjok)

Temporary
Residency

EPA
Migran
ts 206

Japan

Taiwan
Korea

Medic
al
Visa

With
license

Japan: Interrelationship between care and mi

gration regimes
Care
regim
e
Accep
t only
highly
skille
Migrati
don
migra
regime
nts

To pass the
national
exam
became a
condition
LTCI (2000~)
removed
psychological
barriers
towards
institutional

Globalization of
care in Japan
Accepted as
highly skilled
workers in
institutions
Too costly and
too small in
number to
mitigate the
labor shortage
Increasing
demand for
care workforce

Taiwan: Interrelationship between care and m

igration regimes
Emphasis on
cultural ideal
towards
homecare
Development
of LTC
institutions
but in a
limited way
Lack of
government
Care
support
regim
towards LTC

Migrati
on
regime

Globalizati
on of care
in Taiwan

Lack of
unskilled
workers in
factories
which opened
up the labor
market since
1992~
Contract
period
extended

Accepted as
unskilled
who work
mostly in less
regulated
private
homes.
(Re-)
familialization
and lack of
standardizatio

Conclusion

Migrant care workers are incorporated in a variety of

ways into different care regimes in East Asia, which in
turn defines the entitlement of the migrants as well as
the quality of care.
The migration of care workers call upon a new appro
ach as the migration regime and care regime are inex
tricably interconnected and mutually re-enforcing.
Sociological imagination is needed in order to envisio
n an institutional framework that will do justice to the
elderly, women and migrants alike.
Under the rapid demographic change in East Asia, we
need a strategy to raise the social status of both the
migrants as well as care work.

References

Esping-Anderson, G.,1990, Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, Princeton University Press.

Esping-Anderson, G.,1999, Social Foundation of Post Industrial Economies, Oxford Univer

sity Press.

Lee, H., 2012, Korea Womens Policy Research Institute, Research on the Situation and M
anagement of Korean Chinese and Foreign Women Helpers,
Vol.1

Hochschild, A. R., 2000, Global Care Chains and Emotional Surplus Value, in W. Hutton &
A. Giddens (eds.) On the Edge: Living with Global Capitalism, Vintage.

Parrenas, R. S., 2001, Servants of Globalization: Women, Migration and Domestic Work, At
eneo de Manila Press.

Yeates, N., 2001, Globalization and Social Policy, Sage.

Yeates, N., 2009, Globalizing Care Economies and Migrant Workers: Explorations in Global
Care Chains, Palgrave Macmillan.

Tsubota, K, Ogawa, R, Ohno, S., Y. Hirano, 2012, Result of the Questionnare Survey on Acc
eptance of Foreign Care Workers,
(unpublished manuscript).

Wang, Frank Tsen-Yung, 2010, Globalization of Care in Taiwan: From Undutiful Daughter-i
n-Law to Cold-Blooded Migrant Killer, in Ogawa, R. et al. eds., Transnational Migration fro
m Southeast Asia to East Asia and Transformation of Re-productive Labor: Comparative St
udy between Korea, Taiwan and Japan, KFAW Visiting Researchers Report, http://www.kfa