Migrant and non-migrant domestic workers in Hanoi

Abstract

This working paper discusses the central role of rural-urban migration in the formation of the different forms of domestic work in Hanoi. These include domestic work for expatriates; live-out service; live-in service; cleaning by junk traders; and patient care in hospitals. The paper demonstrates that the domestic service sector is highly segmented with a complex placement system ranging from high-end agencies to direct recruitment through personal networks. A key factor seems to be the migration status of the mostly female workers. Whereas live-out jobs and work as maids for expatriates are predominantly taken up by Hanoi residents or migrants with family in the city, mainly rural women, either single or with a left-behind family, occupy live-in arrangements. Unlike the relatively long-term live-in workers, cleaner-com-junk traders are mostly seasonal migrants actively maintaining close ties to home. Meanwhile, hospital carers include both rural women and men who live in hospital together with the patients they care for. While a hierarchy among the different forms of service is unclear, there are differences in terms of remuneration, working and living conditions as well as personal autonomy that workers weigh against each other in their choices. This segmentation reflects, on one hand, the regional differences of the sending areas and the strength of the social networks that arise from them. On the other hand, it is a manifestation of the conscious choice that workers make to enter or leave certain forms of service and other occupations. The paper is based on primary and secondary data collected between August 2008 and August 2009 on domestic service in Hanoi. Major research methods included biographic narrative interpretive method, in-depth interviews, focus groups and ethnography with the different groups of domestic workers as well as domestic service agencies and employers in Hanoi.