Migrants to the Rescue? Care Workforce Migrantisation on the Example of Elder Care in Germany

Abstract

The share of migrant workers in the long-term care (LTC) workforce across the world has been increasing. Despite similar trends in terms of overall LTC migrantisation, countries differ in the ways in which migrant workers are involved in national care regimes. Previous research identified several modes of migrantisation, including the “migrant in the family” and “migrant in formal care” outcomes. In the literature, the emergence of each mode is explained by a country-specific intersection of regimes of care, migration and employment. However, analyses of the concrete mechanisms through which such intersections produce differential outcomes are still missing. In this chapter, we identify and explain the mechanisms that resulted in the emergence of “migrant in the family” and “migrant in formal care” migrantisation in Germany.

Social Innovation in Home-Based Eldercare: Strengths and Shortcomings of Integrating Migrant Care Workers into Long-Term Care in Tuscany

“…To target MCWs and issues related to their employment presupposes knowledge about their contribution to overall LTC provision, which is often impeded by the inexistence of reliable data because of the large share of informal employment in the sector. Even in advanced welfare states, such as Germany, statistics about MCWs are vague at best, and policymakers who already turn a blind eye to the issue have inadequate knowledge upon which to base targeted solutions [ 54 ]. Moreover, in countries with significant numbers of MCWs, such as Spain and the UK, innovations do exist but tend to be one-sided, focussing exclusively on particular pathologies (such as dementia) or isolated groups of providers [ 55 ].…”

The Multi-Sided Ethnographer

“…As such, the Long Run helps foster connections built upon interactions during sporting and cultural activities, thereby giving equal status to non-citizens, unlike more goal-oriented voluntary work that sees Germans and migrants or refugees enter the unequal power relation between the helper and the helped. These occasions provide opportunities whereby non-citizens are not dependent on citizens and engage in new forms of relationalities that can lead to "de-migranticization" (Dahinden 2016) at the affective level -in some cases, even providing non-citizens with the opportunity to help citizens, thereby reversing the usual roles (Safuta et al 2022). Ahmed, for instance, a former competitive martial artist in the Ugandan Tae Kwon Do team, trains those interested in the sport in addition to offering a course for children at Bellevue.…”