Global Care Chain Work

Sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild first used the term global care chain to describe the export of care work from low-income nations to high-income nations. Care work is the work of attending to others through the provision of physical, moral, and emotional support. Historically, care work has been done informally without pay, usually by family members, as in the case of mothers caring for their children. Recognized care work occupations, in which caregivers are compensated financially, include nursing, child care, and domestic work. As the popularity of international migration increases, the distribution of care work is more likely to expand past familial links to encompass a more complex and international labor industry. One development as a result of increased migration is the creation of transnational families—families with one or more parents living outside their country. Migration theorists have explained the prevalence of international migration through push and pull factors. In low-income countries, conditions make sustainable living difficult, such as high unemployment and poverty rates, so people may feel “pushed” to go elsewhere to earn a living; whereas, receiving countries “pull” immigrants by offering more plentiful work opportunities, higher wages, and secure lifestyles. Immigrant workers also often support their families through remittances sent back home. These remittances may contribute a large source of income to the home nation's economy. Accordingly, the demand for care work in wealthy nations draws people (mostly women) away from impoverished countries as they seek to fill the positions of care workers, just as they are pushed by unfavorable circumstances in their countries of origin, in which there becomes a deficit of caregiving.

Although men have traditionally been viewed as the breadwinners of the family, which may have obligated them to migrate for work, economic hardships have also required women to travel for salaries as well. In other cases, domestic violence may influence women to flee their country to escape abusive situations, or because women are more likely to feel the brunt of divorce or abandonment, they may be additionally compelled to leave their families to provide for them financially. The feminization of migration has required many women to leave their own families behind to be cared for by relatives (often grandmothers, aunts, or godmothers) or hired help. There is a transfer of caring labor from one place to another, creating a global care work chain, which is described in this entry.