ABSTRACT

While considerable attention has been given to the impact of migration on left-behind families, such research focuses on the children of migrants, rather than older members of the family who play crucial roles in maintaining familyhood in place and across borders. Through a multi-sited study of foreign domestic migration between Singapore and Myanmar for eldercare work, we draw attention to the care circulations connecting elderly employers in Singapore with the families of the foreign domestic workers (FDWs), in particular ageing parents in Myanmar. We interviewed 28 current and former FDWs, as well as 10 ageing parents (n = 38), of which there were 7 care dyads (i.e. domestic worker and parent/s). We underline the fraught relations of care and familyhood that are re/constructed by the domestic workers to give meaning to the eldercare work they do abroad, while also drawing out the ways in which left-behind parents both receive and provide care as a result of their daughters’ migration. Our paper extends conceptualisation of the ‘care slot’ by eliciting the multidirectional aspects of caregiving and care receiving in a transnational context, and with respect to ageing and intergenerational familyhood across borders and the life course.

摘要

尽管移民对留守家庭的影响已经引起了相当大的关注，但此类研究的重点是移民的子女，而不是在维持家庭关系和跨国界方面发挥关键作用的年长家庭成员。通过对新加坡和缅甸之间为养老工作而进行的外国国内移民的多地点研究，我们提请注意将新加坡的老年雇主与外国家庭佣工 (FDW) 的家庭，特别是缅甸年迈的父母联系起来的护理循环。我们采访了 28 位现任和前任外籍女佣，以及 10 位年迈的父母（n = 38)，其中有 7 个照顾二人组（即家庭工人和父母）。我们强调了由家庭工人重新/构建的令人担忧的照顾和家庭关系，以赋予他们在国外所做的养老工作以意义，同时也描绘了留守父母接受和提供照顾的方式。他们女儿的移民。我们的论文通过引出跨国背景下的护理和接受护理的多方位，以及跨越国界和生命历程的老龄化和代际家庭关系，扩展了“护理槽”的概念化。