It Is Not a Choice, It Is a Must

2011–2012

ERSTE Foundation Fellowship for Social Research Should we stay or should we go?

Migration and its effects on demographic and economic development in Central Eastern Europe

It Is Not a Choice, It Is the Must.

Family and Gender Implications of Elder Care Migration from Slovakia to Austria Martina SekulovĂĄ

It is not a choice, it is the must.

Family and gender implications of elder care migration from Slovakia to Austria.

Martina Sekulová Institute for Public Affairs, Bratislava1 Abstract The paper focuses on the domestic elderly care workers from Slovakia working in Austria.

Key emphasis of the paper is given to impact of migration on the family in the country of origin, on the aggregate effects of the “life in motion” of females and their absence at the household. The emphasis is given also transnational household and transnational family as a mode of maintenance of social, economic and emotional ties between migrant and household in the country of origin. The study explores this 24-hour live-in job from the perspective of the gender and transnationalism.

The story of Eva, 47 years old woman, begins similarly to stories of other thousands of females from Slovakia. Twelve days spent with her family and husband, spent with cleaning the household, gardening and cooking, finishes with large shopping into the storage, then cooking several dinners and lunches, freezing them and leaving in the freezer (in order to provide handy nutrition for husband and children during her absence at home). She packs her personal things, small presents and then waits for a taxi driver who picks her up and drives her with three or more other women 800 kilometres far from home to her Austrian employer, the family where she works as elderly carer for a 90 years old lady. Two weeks of 24-hours work per day is ahead of her. Maria is one of more than 17 thousand Slovak domestic care workers taking care for elderly Austrian people, one of those who commute on the bi- and three- weekly basis.

The story of Eva is only one of the examples showing how contemporary Slovak women join new international division or reproductive labour and participate on the globalization of the care services. Using the term by Sassen (Sassen 2002), migrating domestic care workers from Slovakia are present in the cross-border circuits which enables them to survive – to cope with unemployment, vast regional and social differences in the country, persisting age discrimination or increasing pressure on women to support family economically. Domestic care work has increasing significant in the contemporary society and many specifics and peculiarities in context of new migration patterns, feminisation of migration and global changes of economy. Slovak females are increasingly involved in the globalisation of the care services, transnationalisation of the care services and care economy where labour forces are no longer wholly anchored in their nation states but migrate to serve the growing international

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The fieldwork and project management was realised with the support and significant contribution of Mgr. Miroslava Hlinčíková, social anthropologist and analyst of the Institute for Public Affairs.

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demand for reproductive labour (Yeates, 2008: 19). In this sense contemporary migration patterns visible in Slovakia are in line with a broader new international division of reproductive labour including its very new aspects – increasing extent of migrating women, the fact that they travel alone and leave household and family at the country of origin but also in terms long distance where they are travelling.

The paper analyses seventeen life stories with domestic workers2 and story of the household.

The interviewees were from all parts of Slovakia diverse in terms of age, marital status, number of children and education3.

1. GLOBALISATION OF THE REPRODUCTIVE CARE From the perspective of market economy, had reproductive work been for a long time less valued or considered to be an “unpaid” job. The concept of reproductive labour was introduced by feminist scholars in order to understand roots of gender oppression and patters of the domestic labour and household production. The reproductive labour concept explains gender division of labour in the society and explains gender relations among households.

While productive labour is understood as a work for a wage the reproductive work refers to a broad range of the work performed for household maintenance and reproduction. The concept originates in the feminist critique of the power within economic production.

As feminist economists emphasize, the basic structure of capitalist economy is to significant extent determined by gender. Consequently, the labour performed outside the market economy and unpaid work, in private sphere, according to the logics is not accepted as a

2

Names of all informants were changed in order to guarantee their anonymity. The informants were variable in terms of their age, marital status, education, region and time spent working as domestic elder carer – between two and eleven years.

3 The study is result of the project Domestic Work and Female Migrants. Case of Slovakia. which lasted from December 2010 to November 2011 and was supported by ERSTE Foundation within the programme Generations in Dialogue? The key research topic was the impact of migration of Slovak female migrants working as elderly carers in domestic care services in Austrian families. Main aim of the research project was to map current situation through analysis of the available statistical data, conduct empirical qualitative research and to interpret research within theoretical framework related to transnationalisation of care services. Research team posed three key research questions: what is the impact of economic migration of elderly carers to their family members in Slovakia? What changes in the gendered division of housework emerge from the transnational household constellation? What changes have been seen with respect to a power relation and renegotiation of position of household members? In order to gain response to the specifics of Slovakia – Austria care migration, transnationalisation of the care services in between of these countries, domestic care work and working conditions of Slovak elderly carers in Austria, transnational social space and transnational households/partnership/motherhood, care drain in Slovakia and gender dimension of this particular labour migration qualitative research was conducted. During the second half of 2011 were conducted 20 interviews with domestic workers and intermediaries (representatives of agencies providing care work in Austria). Seventeen females participated on the research; they lived in the different regions across Slovakia . Beside this also other relevant information were analysed such as statistical data related to migration or Labour Force Survey (LFS).

As domestic elderly carers from Slovakia suffer from official platform for gaining information about rights, duties, legislation, etc., they have established various informal social networks in order to share their experiences and problems. Two discussion forums were regularly monitored and research team also participated in the informal social networks created by domestic elderly carers.

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labour (Michalitsch, 2011: 14). As the Beneria and Sen explain, in the contemporary urban societies the nuclear family has been the most basic form of household organization and wage labour has been the key source of family subsistence. Within this frame domestic work consists of the production of use values through the combination of commodities bought in the market and domestic labour time. The women has for a long time been perceived as a “naturally” responsible for the domestic work, what “resulted in their weakness in the labor market and dependency on the male wage, both underlie and are products of asymmetric gender relations” (Beneria-Sen, 1981, p. 271).

Moreover, gender specific attribution of unpaid reproductive work and care especially to women creates crucial base of economical gender hierarchies (Michalitsch, 2011: 14). Thus, women undertake vast majority of reproductive work and their participation on the labour market on productive work or their wages are lower. During last decades however, globalization of economy, structural changes in the welfare states led to emergence of the new international division of labour accompanied with growth in female labour force participation, employment and the feminisation of waged labour (Yates, 2009:14). Increased participation of indigenous women on the productive labour, on the paid jobs in developed industrial countries over the last decades significantly increased. However, the redistribution of paid labour was not followed by redistribution of household work (Lutz 2007).

Increasing participation of women on productive labour consequently led to reproductive labour shortages and this has been outsourced outside family members as paid service which is undertaken by migrant women mostly. The need for reproductive labour has been increasingly filled by female migrants and this led to the new international division of reproductive labour. The number of domestic workers in Europe has been increasing in line with feminisation of migration and is one of the new forms of migration patterns in Europe.

Despite the similarities with migration pattern from earlier periods, the contemporary phenomenon of domestic work is “need-driven, not as it was in 19th and early 20th century the question of the status (Lutz, 2007:230). Besides the fast growing demand for domestic workers in Europe there are also other factors often emphasized by scholars such as structural changes in the society, ageing of the Western societies, increasing longevity of the population, change of the family patterns (more nuclear families, single parents, increasing number of divorced persons – on the side of both sending and receiving country) increasing participation of the females on migration processes, lower income expectations from migrants and unequal position in the society made from female immigrants target group of demand for domestic carers.

New international division of reproductive labour emphasizes that reproductive labour previously provided by women in “core” countries is increasingly provided by women from “peripheral” countries who have migrated to the “core” countries to undertake this labour (Parrenas in Yeates, 2008:19). Propelled by an increasing demand for migrant domestic workers throughout wealthier countries of the world and the supply of domestic workers by less wealthy ones, this trade is inextricably linked to the globalisation dynamics that are recasting social hierarchies nationally and globally (Yeates, 2008:21). However, globalisation of the care services is not only issue of the economy and globalisation. As H. Lutz emphasizes 3

crucial role plays especially welfare regimes, gender regimes and migration regimes.

“Whereas in many European welfare state countries has played the role of providing services for children, the elderly and the disabled through subsidies for care work, welfare state restructuring now leads to market driven service offers and a serious decline of state provided social care services.” (Lutz, 2007:230). In this sense migrant domestic workers supply responsibility of the welfare state. As B. Anderson concludes, “employment of the paid domestic worker is one of the means by which some women are able to adopt the masculinised employment patterns that now characterise the work histories of so many European female workers, and migrant domestic workers are increasingly taking on the privatised responsibilities of the welfare state” (Anderson, 2000:5). Thus important determination in buoyancy of domestic care services demand are shortages of public care services which are pushed out of institutions or hospitals back to families and households (Yeates 2008, Hondagneu-Sotello 2000, Tolstokorova 2009, Lutz 2007, Degiuli 2007).

Gender regimes refer to care work as a gendered activity. In reality thus outsourcing of household and care work to another women is widely accepted because it follows and perpetuates the logic of gender display in accordance with accepted gender regimes (Lutz 2007:232) and thus maintains existing gender contracts in the receiving country. Last but not least play important is played by migration regimes that influence legal status of domestic workers positively or negatively. For instance, the legalisation of the status of domestic carer in Austria on the base of trade license was one of the key booster migrations of elderly carers from Slovakia to Austria.

1.1. PRESENT ABSENCE – DOMESTIC WORKERS IN MOTION ACROSS TRANSNATIONAL BORDERS

The migrations from Slovakia to Austria represents, by a Morokvasic term – “settling in mobility”. The migrants maintain their social relations across borders and therefore it is necessary to refer to the household as a transnational unit. The household and family maintenance in case of the transmigrants creates new social formations with its specific patterns and consequences.

Transnational approach From the theoretical point of view has transnational migration become central term of the migration studies relatively recently, during the last 20 years, however influenced social sciences significantly and represent new paradigm and shift of paradigmatic thinking about migration processes. According to the transnational approach is the “new trend in contemporary migration processes creating of the transnational social fields interlinking countries of origin with a countries of destination” (Szaló, 2007: 7). When taking into the

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account new migration patterns such as care migration in Central Europe, it is useful to apply the transnational perspective as the household and family is maintained across the borders.

Changing social conditions and social processes in the contemporary society also shapes the new modes of migration. The transnational approach explains and focuses on those new social formations. “The transnational approach redirects the focus toward the processes of organization and structuration of translocal/transnational connections and new social formation” (Lazar, 2011: 75). The transnational approach contributed to the rethinking of the notion of society, disarticulation of the taken for granted relation between territorially bounded framework (ibid).

In general, transnational approach has contributed significantly to the study of migrations via emphasize on the articulation and persistence of social relations of migrants at a distance, over the nation-state borders. The changed paradigm led from „shift in the analytical focus from classical „place of origin“ to the migrant „worlds in motion“, to the „process by which immigrants forge and sustain multi-stranded social relations that link together their societies of origin of settlement (Basch in Lazar, 2011: 77) The transnational perspective contested the previous implicit postulate that „nation states would be the most important, strong and persistent framework for the construction of belonging, social identification, emotional attachement and shared symbolic constellation“ (ibid).

The concept of transnational family

The family is understood as a heterogenic group with inner power relations and inequalities, where the position of men and women is an issue of negotiation. It is not possible to present a united definition of a family as these vary in types according to culture, size, composition, mutual interactions and constituting a family its constituents (Sekulová, 2010: 7). The concept transnational family refers to a family practises persisting through transnational social space – how the family practises are maintaining during the absence of the migrant.

When referring to the transnational family practises the scholar emphasize no typical transnational family patterns (Orozco, 2006). The migrating actors and remitters are men and women from different age groups. However, the paper discusses particular case of the migrating women.

The concept of transnational household The very nature of the care migration of females abroad is tendency to maintain and act within the household at country of origin despite the absence, therefore it is crucial to refer to the household as a transnational unit. The concept of the transnational household 5

differentiates between transnational family practises as conceptualize mainly domestic work and responsibilities related to the household. It is broader term including wider responsibilities than reproductive work related to the family. Moreover, as Heidinger describes, “the decision to migrate can be seen as a household maintenance strategy with the aim of upholding or improving the economic and social status of the household (Heidinger, 2008: 128).

Another perspective – and argument for using concept of the transnational household is the fact that within the transnational migration processes more actors are involved than only nuclear family. The transnational household is a product of the three spaces migrant domestic work engage with: the private household where the professional relationship between employers and employees dominates, private household of private life after return from work (in case of live-out) and finally, own private household – “home” (Heidinger, 2008: 128).

Power relations As the transnational scholars emphasize, the transnational perspective on migration helps to understand power relations, how „power disparities between states trigger and orient migration... and how transnational migration contribute and sustain these inequalities and how it diminishes or enhances state powers (Lazar, 2011: 75).

In case of transnational care migration plays asymmetric power, gendered and racialised divisions of domestic labour relations crucial role. Racialisation of the labour market is process involving the hierarchical ranking of migrant workers and nationals vertically (assigning them to different ranks or statuses within the same employment sector and horizontally (over representation of migrants in certain employment sectors). These class relations are accompanied by discourses about the “cultural” aptitude of migrants for certain tasks (Scrinzi, 2008: 29).

1.2. PAID DOMESTIC WORK PECULIARITIES OF DOMESTIC WORK

Paid domestic work is reproductive work performed in the private sphere. Researches refer to domestic work as to three “C” works according to the main tasks and responsibilities, which are performed – cleaning, cooking, and caring (Hondagneu-Sotello 2001, Tostokorova 2007).

One of the key specifics of the domestic work is its intimate character, the fact that it is performed in the private sphere (far from the control mechanism and standards of the paid employment) and its emotional character in particular. Feminist researchers have emphasized importance of emotional engagement of domestic work, especially related to child and elderly care, which has significant consequences. “Domestic work cannot be done without 'love'; 6

love, however, cannot be measured by the regular mesocratic remuneration systems; care workers deliver emotional surplus to their employers” (Lutz, 2007: 227). Emotional character of the performed work on the one side strengthens the fact that reproductive labour, following gender contracts, is not perceived as a “real” work on the hand. On the other hand puts double pressure on the domestic workers with their emotional engagement on the other.

Among key specific is the unequal position between the employee and the employer the reason for the specific vulnerability of the employee. Moreover, often unstable legal positioning of domestic worker strengthens the dependency on the employer and might cause serious exploitation. “Migrant domestic workers are defined in a very real sense by their social relations, characterised by personal dependency on the employer often reinforced by immigration legislation” (Anderson, 2000: 4).

When referring to elderly care domestic workers, it is very important to distinguish between tasks oriented to care (care for children, elderly or sick members of the household) and tasks oriented to housework (such as cleaning, cooking, shopping, etc.) in between which the border is often blurred.

By definition are the domestic workers “employees paid by individuals or families to provide elderly care, childcare, and/or housecleaning in private homes” (Parrenas, 2001:1). The phenomena of the migrant domestic workers have special connotations also in terms of the intersection of gender, race and in context of elderly domestic carers also age. Empirical evidence increasingly confirms racial stratification within paid domestic care services as many employers apply own gendered or racialized preferences while employing domestic carer, for instance in Austria Slovak elderly carers are consider to be more suitable to this job because of their openness, cleanliness and cultural similarity.

Particular consequences have the fact that work is performed in the private sphere. As the researchers emphasize female employers have their movement between the public and private facilitated by the domestic worker; she is their bridge between the domains.” (Anderson, 2000: 5). However, for the domestic worker is this polarisation not so clear. When referring to her work duties she has to consider context of the private sphere but when referring to rights she is considered as employee within the public sphere. “The worker may be treated as a part of the family when referring to customary relations, when it is a matter of hours and flexibility, and as a worker if she becomes too sick to work” (Anderson, 2000:4).

As was already emphasized domestic work consists of tasks which have been traditionally treated as “unpaid” job (taking care for household, performing wellbeing of the family, taking care of children, elderly people and disabled parts of the family) continues to be influenced by hierarchical structure and undervalued - productive work is valued more than reproductive work (Lutz ,2007: 231).

Work histories of elderly carers from Slovakia sketches broad range of problems related to work, not only in terms of her employment status, employment conditions, or long distance commuting. Data has shown high differences in personal experiences. It is important to acknowledge differences in workers´ experiences. Some suffers from very bad experiences, 7

slave-like, discrimination or oppression while others are fully satisfied. As Anderson describes this fact from her research findings, important are “different contexts in which domestic workers are employed, dominant attitudes towards women and towards foreigners, but also take into account different psychobiographies of workers (Anderson, 2001).

Peculiarities of their work lie on the private sphere where the work is performed, emotional character of the performed work, on the fact that work which is performed is paid reproductive labour, missing definition of work conditions and responsibilities of domestic workers with self-employed status taking care for elderly people in private households.

Moreover, particular consequences they face double burden because there are lots of duties and responsibilities “waiting” in the household in Slovakia, women have to deal with impacts of her missing place as a mother, as a wife and member of household as such.

2. NEW MIGRATIONS FROM SLOVAKIA IN CONTEXT OF FEMINISATION OF MIGRATION

Slovak elderly carers have become during the past decade the part of globalisation of care services. In particular case of Slovakia, migration of elderly carers is driven by historical ties between Slovakia and Austria as well as legalisation of the status of elderly carers in Austria.

From this point of view the migration of domestic carers from Slovakia represents East – West migration from “periphery” to “core” countries, from poorer to richer regions as defines concept of new international division of reproductive labour. As suggested by migration systems theory, migration streams are not randomly selected but instead emerge from prior links established through colonialism or pre-existing cultural and economic ties (Castles and Miller in Parrenas, 2001, s. 2).

Feminisation of migration is widely considered as one of the most significant trends in international migration. Feminisation of migration indicates a shift in the modes of female participation and the increasing role of women in the process of migration. Despite the generally accepted premise that the feminisation of migration has been one of the most important trends present in the last decades, discussions about its specific character are still on-going. Females have become more important players in migration strategies and the phenomena itself. “Females experienced a shift from marginalised positioned subjects to social actors within migration processes” (Campani in King et al., 2004: 36).

Domestic care workers from Slovakia are predominantly women with families and children, and due to the large wage differences between Austria and Slovakia women are breadwinners.

Women create significant proportion on elderly carers from Slovakia as they face also additional barriers on Slovak labour market. Migration is a solution for unwilling economic situation of many households in economically deprived regions of Slovakia. Thus, recent developments of the new migration patterns from Slovakia are in line with a broader migration trends and feminisation of migration, observed in the world.

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Contemporary debates within migration studies emphasize changing migration modes and patterns in comparison to the previous era and emphasize changing “face” of migration patterns. Specifically, new modes of migrations arise as Morokvasic points out, many people use migration and commuting as a long term strategy – they are settled in mobility (Morokvasic, 2009).

Since 1989 in Slovakia there has been a dynamic increase in the number of women migrating in the East-West direction to Austria, Germany and Great Britain and undertaking employment in the domestic care.

Growth of the number of female migrants from Slovakia working in domestic elderly care abroad is in this context important trend. On the first insight female migration might seems like good solution. Indeed, from the perspective of the new economics of labour migration introduced by a Stark (Stark – Bloom, 1985), migration decision is a rational choice taken on the micro level. Moreover, migration is not an individual strategy but decision of the family – a household strategy with aim to diversify sources of income and avoid risks. Migration is both caused by, and a response to, systematic changes in the social organisation of production and it is also indicative of adaptive social reproduction strategies in the face of these production modes, with further transformative effects on the household structure entailed by its members physically absenting themselves to search for and take up paid work elsewhere (Yeates, 2009:16).

However, as the paper discusses further, the income gained might be very expensive, taking into account the impact on the families, households and even migrants – domestic care workers have to face inequalities, discrimination, exploitation and power relations.

3. PROFILE AND STATUS OF ELDERLY CARERS

Women from the whole country commute every two or three weeks to different parts of Austria in order to take care for elderly people in Austrian families. The key specific of their work is that all of them provide live-in elderly work consisting of 24-hour service for fourteen days. After those two weeks they change shift with carer (mainly carer from Slovakia) and commute back to their families in Slovakia for another 14 days. With the respect to their legal status, vast majority of elderly carers have legal status on the base of trade licence. Migration of elderly carers in Austria has some specifics in comparison to strategies of domestic workers visible in other parts of Europe. Foremost, migration of the Slovak elderly carers might be considered rather as commuting than emigration. Elderly carers from Slovakia “leave home in order to stay at home, these results rather in pendular transnational migration instead of emigration” (Lutz, 2007:234). Time spent in the family is most likely two weeks or rarely three weeks. Bi-weekly commuting enables women to provide paid domestic care in Austria and at the same time unpaid care for household and family members in the country of

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their origin. In fact are elderly carers from Slovakia migrating within cross boarder circuits in order to cope unwilling economic and social situation in the country.

From 1st May 2004 “the private household sector may exploit the option of the “free movement of services”, one of the principle of European internal market, as a way of attaining legalized employment, either through self-employment or as an employee of a business that offers these services (Heidinger, 2008:134). However, the research identified persisting illegal carers present in Austria. To be illegal enables the woman to avoid duty to pay social and healthcare insurance.

Another distinction visible among women is related to physical and mental conditions of the cared persons. There is a high variety of patients and cared persons. While some of them are fully self-sufficient, others take care for non-self-sufficient persons such as those completely immobile, elders with various kinds of mental and physical conditions such as Alzheimer´s, Parkinson´s to complete paralysis.

Quantitative overview When referring to statistical figures of migrating Slovaks in gender perspective, Austria is the country with significantly higher share of migrating females4 than males from Slovakia.

Domestic workers providing elder care in Austria are predominantly women, however not only. According to the Labour Force Survey the share of men among elderly carers was 9% in 2011. According to the labour force survey in the second quarter of 2011 worked in Austria about 16,000 elderly carers (Table 1). The total number of elderly carers has increased especially in 2009 from 6588 in 2008 to 13525 in 2009. Researchers explain this jump as the impact of the economic crisis on Slovakia from 2008 which led to increasing unemployment rate (Bahna 2011).

Table 1: Number of working Slovaks in Austria (total numbers) 2008

2009

2010

2011

Total number of elderly carers

6588

13525

16139

15937

Total number of working Slovaks in Austria Source: Labour Force Survey

17319

22189

25098

25915

Note: Year 2011 refers to 30th June 2011

From the perspective of regional representation lead female workers from the Eastern Slovakia (Table 2), from Košice region (20% share in 2011) and Prešov region (18% share in

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According to the Labour Force Survey had female elderly carers more than 61% share on total number of working Slovaks in Austria (Bahna 2011).

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2011). Both mentioned regions belong to the most economically and socially deprived in Slovakia with high unemployment rate and lack of job opportunities.

Table 2: Regions of origin of elderly carers (%) Region of origin

2008

2009

2010

2011

0

3,3

8,4

7,9

Trnava

3,0

5,4

4,4

2,2

Trenčín

11,7

13,3

5,7

9,7

Nitra

5,7

17,5

17,2

14,7

Žilina

3,8

8,6

9,9

12,2

Banská Bystrica

33,9

17,9

13,4

14,7

Prešov

29,3

14,4

15,0

18,4

Košice

12,5

19,6

26,0

20,1

Total Source: Labour Force Survey

100

100

100

100,0

Bratislava

Note: Year 2011 refers to 30th June 2011

Being elderly carer in Austria is most predominantly attractive for the women over 35 years, and for women over 45 in particular (Table 3). According to the Labour Force Survey had age group of 50 to 54 years of 22%, 45 – 49 years old had 19% and 35 – 39 years old had 22 % as well. As the paper later discusses, there are more reasons behind it. Unemployment rate among women over 45 years is particularly high in Slovakia as they face additional barriers on the labour market, especially discrimination. On the other hand older women with adult children are more likely open to migrate and they perceive taking care for elderly person as something known – because they are taking care for their own family members and parents which are in similar age to their clients.

Table 3: Age structure of elderly carers (in %) 2008

2009

2010

2011

18-24 years

11,9

4,6

6,8

4,4

25-29 years

16,2

17,1

11,7

11,4

30-34 years

22,2

8,1

6,9

2,3

35-39 years

4,3

11,7

19,6

22,3

40-44 years

24,2

18,7

5,5

7,8

45-49 years

8,7

15,1

19,4

19,0

50-54 years

10,6

18,3

21,7

22,0

55-59 years

1,9

6,2

7,3

9,8

0,9

1,0

100

100,0

60-64 years Total Source: Labour Force Survey

100

100,0

Note: Year 2011 refers to 30th June 2011

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Education profiles In order to become elderly carer it is not important what kind of education does the person has. The education profiles of elderly carers are very diverse, some of the have health care education, however for vast majority of them was this work change of their career. In order to work as elderly carer they must pass so called care course and prove German language skills.

From the perspective of formal education the profiles vary from primary education to university education. It is not the exception that domestic workers hold even university degree. According to the latest data from Labour Force Survey (Table 4) dominates among elderly carers those with finished secondary education (70% in 2011), followed by secondary education without A-Levels (23% in 2011) and university education with 7% share in 2011.

Table 4: Educational profile of elderly carers (in %) Education

2008

2009

2010

2011

Primary education

0,0

1,7

1,4

0,0

Secondary education

29,1

14,7

22,6

23,3

Upper secondary education

67,4

79,4

64,2

69,6

University education

3,5

4,2

11,7

7,1

Total Source: Labour Force Survey

100

100

100

100,0

Note: Year 2011 refers to 30th June 2011

4. THE FAMILY AND HOUSEHOLD AT HOME

What was before – motivation to work as elderly carers The fast growing numbers of domestic workers – elderly carers from Slovakia was vivid during the last decade. As A. Bachinger emphasizes in her work, the 24-hours elderly care simply fills in the gap which emerged due to the demographic and social changes in Austrian society (Bachinger, 2009:8). However, on the level of the society in Slovakia, there have been many other structural and personal reasons. The maintenance of household in Slovakia was key pull factor among informant’s life stories. Being an elderly carer is easy to achieve and promise higher wage in comparison to wages in Slovakia. Vast majority of the informants were married with children. From life-stories of informants only two were single and one was childless. Beside one single female all other declared household maintenance as a key motivation to go. Even she, an educated nurse with perfect German and ambitions to immigrate to Austria, had been for many years the only breadwinner in her family where sister and her husband were unemployed. Thus, worsening of social and economic situation 12

and decreasing income of the household motivated them to migrate. Key determination for perception of domestic work and motivation of informant to go was the age – there was difference of motivations to start working as elderly carers among younger women with or without family and females with adult children, career. Those with small children perceived household maintenance as much more important reason than those with adult children.

Young women with small children perceived working as elderly carer abroad rather like a “forced” migration. It was not a choice it was a must. Maintenance of the household, children´s wellbeing and needs in the conditions of worsening social and economic situation were key push factors for them. Most of the interviewees before starting migrating abroad experienced unemployment, too low wages in Slovakia which simply do not correspond with needs of the household and its expenditures. In many cases was the complicated situation of the household strengthened by unemployment of the partner/husband and the impossibility to find a job. Wage from providing care work abroad makes noticeable contribution to household budget5.

“The impulse to start working as domestic elderly carer emerged from the fact that after graduation in university I was not able to find any job… I lived alone with son in my parents place” (Eva, 27 years, divorced, 1 child) “I have started seven years ago. I was forced because of the lack of money. We did not have money for basic expenditures of the household. I did not have money to buy kids the bread or sweets. My husband was unemployed those times also. So whether I wanted or not, I was forced to be with kids at the day and learn German at the nights. It was very demanding psychologically and emotionally.” (Zora, 37, married, 3 children) Young females with children have perceived this precarious situation especially emotionally.

Household maintenance and child´s wellbeing thus persuaded many women to go, despite the feeling of guilt for leaving small kids at home. As Maria mind back her beginnings: “The smallest one of the three was five when I have left him. The oldest one was ten, but he needed me desperately as well. He cried terribly. They cried and I said that I´ll come back in two weeks... Can you imagine how they cried? My heart was broken. Boys cried. Mum simply has to leave abroad in order to buy milk and bread. It was so hard. I cried there, they cried at home. Later, it was better, maybe easier. But still it hurts that I have to go far from my family.” (Zora, 37, married, 3 children) Another important factor in range of unwilling economic situation arises simply from the fact that social services are undervalued in Slovakia and minimum wage doesn’t enable to pay necessary expenditures. Better wages and new experience were also reasons to go abroad for some informants.

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The research identified wage most often varying from 50 Euro per day up to 65 Euro per day either with or without the social security and health insurance. Some employers pay social security and health insurance, others not, based on the negotiations between carers and family.

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“...I finished health care secondary education in health care in 1995... I couldn’t find a job and I was unemployed for a year... Then I had been working in psychiatric home for four years... The work was too hard work for a young person... hard to psychics... and I stagnated there. I wasn’t satisfied with salary. And then I heard about earnings for a similar job in Austria and Germany. I started to learn German intensively and in November 2000 I have gone to Austria for the first time...” (Kristina, 36, single) Females with adult children have a bit different experience. First of all, strong motivation is finances and possibility to earn more the Austria. However, the role plays also need to change something in the life, empty-nest syndrome and last but not least discrimination on the labour market in Slovakia. For women over 45 years plays an important role also the fact that they face many additional barriers on the labour market in Slovakia, such as age discrimination for instance. Position of the females over 45 years on the labour market is seriously threatened by discrimination and this group belongs to the most disadvantaged and vulnerable (Bútorová eds., 2008). „I was not forced to take this job. I did not have problem with unemployment, I had full time contract in company where I had been working for many years before, and it was in the school. However, I decided to change because I had been working with administration and papers for almost whole my life. Maybe it was the question of my age, I simply needed a change. I had burn out. I felt depressed so I decided. And indeed, there was also financial motivation because at those times, at time when I have started, it was very financially attractive in comparison to salaries here. “(Zuzana, 59 years, married, childless) “I had been teaching at primary school. But the position of director is very important, director was really arbitrary, he did whatever he wanted, interpersonal relations did not interest him… I was always the worst for him. I had even psychological problems there, I felt very bad so I decided to leave and change my profession... I had some experiences with care so I decided that I will try this.” (Mirka, 56 years, married, 2 children) The research identified also strategy of women which had not found themselves in previous career. After years of working on some position they felt being burn out and they needed a change in their life. As there are not many opportunities for females in this age group in Slovakia, they decided to start working as elderly carers. Information gained from their friends, relatives, via informal networks persuaded them to start work as elderly carers.

“I had been working in German company in Slovakia in the office; I did orders, administration… After 35 years on the same workplace, in the same company I simply felt that I have enough. I handed in my notice voluntary. Everyone was surprised. Because you know, it is very risky to leave stable job nowadays in Slovakia. But I knew that I have to change something, I wasn’t scared. (Katarína, 53 years, married, 2 children) “I was thinking about change of the job for a long time. I did caring course in advance. And then I was thinking what I am going to do. I worked at the post with very low salary, but it was stable income. And I was at the age when person must definitely decide whether stay or change something, if change stability with insecurity. It was a lottery and I had been deciding 14

for more than two months. Very intensively. And finally I handed notice… I simply needed more money.” (Andrea, 56 years, married, 3 children) Elderly care in Austria means missing presence of the female in her family in Slovakia. In order to gain deeper insights on the impact domestic work on family in the country of origin the research was focused on overall attitude of broader family towards domestic care. In general, none of the informants haven’t experienced lack of support. In most of the cases informants declared rather support of their family members as the decision to migrate was rather the decision of the family. Thus, the empirical evidence indicate that decision to migrate can be seen as maintenance strategy with aim of upholding or improving the economic and social status of the household as households acts in order to balance the household resources, the consumption needs and the alternatives for productive activity (Haidinger, 2008 :128).

“My family did not make me any problems. Because my children are adults already. Anybody in my family neither forbid me to this job nor tried to persuade me not does it. It was only mine decision. When I did my courses they said, do what you want. If you consider it right and if you want it, so do it. Because you have to have relationship towards work you do. And I would not be able to earn here as much as I do there. I can say at least that I moved somewhere. Some people say that I fell down. I don’t agree I didn’t. This is not humiliating. It is work as any other.” (Katarína, 53 years, married, 2 children) “You know I have lost my job and this forced me to find some solution. I knew I can find work at home only hardly. And really did not want to go to Korean or Vietnam automobile factories. Because assembly line production is not for me in my age, my spinal is destroyed enough already. So I wondered what I am going to do. Then I saw the ad somewhere that there will be language and caring course. But my husband did not believe that I will do it.

And I did. He did not agree with me because he doesn’t like to be alone.” (Petra, 53 years, married, 3 children) Gendered character of domestic work is also important driver of the migration. Females consider their sensitivity, knowledge how to care for others – those socially constructed attributes of feminity – as key prerequisite for elder care.

“I did not know firstly that such opportunity exists. My mother-in-law has started with this job via her friend. And she told me that it is good job. She said: 'You are able to take care for household, you can cook, and you know how to take care for persons. And I can see that you can take care for someone because you are sensitive.” (Zora, 37 years, married, 3 children)

Who cares from whom?

Domestic elderly carers operate within the two households – in their household and in the household in Austria where the work is performed. While having duties in the work – in the household in Austria, the research indicates persisting duties and active participation also at the home country. As previous section has shown, for elderly carers from Slovakia are 15

domestic work in Austria mainly household strategy, they do not expect to emigrate or settle in Austria, but the opposite. They leave their children and family back home and actively operate in the two spaces across nation borders. Especially bi-weekly commuting allows them to combine their duties and tasks in the both households. They perform work in different household contexts – remunerated tasks in household in Austria and unpaid reproductive work in their families Slovakia. Moreover, during the time in Austria they still manage household at home.

Family is not a space with equal and egalitarian relations. Rather oppositely, feminist researchers pointed out that family is heterogenic group with inner power relations and inequalities, where the position of men and women is an issue of negotiation. In this sense is family socially and culturally constructed concept. This chapter examines how are those power relation changing or if so as the impact of the economic migration of women.

Via various strategies they are trying to be responsible for the care for family even if they are absent. Thus, they maintain social ties between the place of destination and place of origin.

Elderly carers from Slovakia are transmigrants “acting, deciding and caring and identifying themselves as members of networks which tie them to two or more societies at the same time” (Heidinger, 2008:128). Transnational household is understood as household where material, emotional and social ties among household members are upheld across the states.

Transnational households develop alternatives of reproduction and organization within and between households which typically involve different and/or more persons than the classical nuclear family as household members must cope with economic and social reproduction strategies that transcend national labour markets (Haidinger, 2008:140).

Elderly carers have developed various economic and social maintenance strategies in order to cope with missing care for households and family at home. These strategies, according to the empirical material, consisted mostly of household maintenance and care of family members.

Those diverse strategies of elderly carers were determined by type of the family (nuclear, two generational family), marital status, children and their age as well as (un)presence broader family/kinship networks in the near area. The most often repeated scenario was help of other family members, most often grandparents, husband or children. However, the research has shown that traditional gender norms are still present in the households as primary substitution of the missing care for family and household wasn’t husband or partner, rather other family members such as grandmother or daughter.

“First of all, I used to live just with my husband and children in the flat. But then we bought a house. Then we made some extension for our parents. Now we have two entrances, one shared courtyard. And both our mummies, mine and husbands, live with us. The house is huge. So they care for the household and family at the moment. Once they will need my care I will take care for them in the future. (Veronika, 37 years, married, 2 children) “Our parents have to take care of our families while we are abroad. But we will pay it back in the future. We will take care of our parents in the future. (Veronika, 37 years, married, 2 children) 16

Other strategy visible in several families was help of the other family member such as older children were helping those smaller.

“I use to buy food to fridge and deep freeze it. And the oldest daughter cooks. If she is not at home my husband cooks. Occasionally they go for a lunch to grandma or grandma comes to cook. We try every possibility.” (Eva, 47 years, married, 5 children) In some cases informants emphasized active role of the partner/husband in taking care of the family and household. However, the tasks performed were rather limited. Vast majority of the tasks related to housework do women after coming back from Austria.

“My husband has surprised me. He has started to do such work at household which he never did. So there is something positive on this work. Also kids. They do not wait until I will serve.

I can see that they go to the fridge and take something to eat by themselves. Anyway, it would be better if I could be with them. Fortunately, I have 24 years old daughter, she replaces me.

She cooks, do laundry, tidy up, she even writes home works with those small.” (Eva, 47 years, married, 5 children) “But family managed it. He (husband) was great. He took care of everything. He even did all housework. Because before I left to Austria I worked as dressmakers and I did not have time to tidy up. So he was already used to help me. So when I left abroad he knew everything and did everything. He had problems with cooking only. But later even his cakes were better than mine… I did not have problem at home. I left with feeling that there is good care for my kids and household. But it was also hard time because one girl was 10 and other 11 years, they needed mom. I like memories from those times.” (Oľga, 47 years, married, 2 children) Several informants have been experiencing empty-nest household. Adult children have established own households and moreover even husband migrated abroad in order to find jobs. In those cases was care for household minimal. As Andrea explains her experience: “At home is only cat and dog. My husband works in Czech Republic. It was a surprise for everyone that I left previous job. But now it is all right. Children are adults. They don’t need me… The family is important for me. But at the same time I enjoy change. So I like it this way.

I think that they get used to it as well. I know that some moments are difficult like I wasn’t at home during the Christmas last year. But everything is possible… and the husband… He is quite self-reliant. And he has also learnt a lot because he is alone abroad as well. But I can’t say that he is helping me at home, to clean the windows for instance. But at the same time I can’t say that he doesn’t help me at all. He is able to tidy up his mess; he doesn’t have problems with cooking. He cooks for me at the day of my arrival. But he does a men´s work I would say, works for house. And does women´s work only rarely.” (Andrea, 56 old, married, 3 children) Often emphasized advantage of being elderly carers in Austria is possibility of commuting on bi-weekly as women have thus chance to take care for household at home. In fact, most of the housework duties are waiting for them. At the same time women feel responsible as they feel guilt that they are not present in the family. As Oľga expresses her experience: 17

“…After the return I try to do everything (in order not to bother him with work in household).

Because in fact I have free time whole two weeks. I always return relaxed from Austria. I feel very good there. In the taxis many women told me terrible stories. This is why I think I have great family.” (Oľga, 47 years, married, 2 children)

Missing care at home, global care chains emerge Many families and households experience economic migration of both parents. The reasons are very similar – difficult economic conditions. And those reasons are behind the emerging global care chains in Slovakia because care drain in the country of origin opens need for care for family members. Global care chains are “a series of personal links between people across globe based on the paid or unpaid work of caring” (Hochschild in Yeates, 2009:40).

Basically, global care chains have pattern when a woman with dependent children takes paid domestic care employment but at the same time is not able to fulfil her domestic duties of childcare and house care and thus she also employs other women to perform this tasks. This persons might be family members of the own family or hired-care givers. When referring to global care chains the care is needed for dependent members of the family such as children, elderly care or sick and disabled family members.

Basically, the research identified both two modes of global care chains, the missing care for family members was either provided by other family member or by hired carer, especially nanny. In the cases identified by the research it was nanny with Slovak citizenship. The migration of both parents is very difficult in organization of duties in household. In some cases both of the couple have been working as elderly carers in Austria, in other cases the husband was working in other EÚ country with presence home in every two or three weeks.

Zora, mother of the three dependent children, went abroad when her kids had five, seven a ten years and her husband worked abroad as well. Her only strategy to provide necessary care was to outsource care – to hire a nanny. She minds back: “I had a grandma here firstly, but then she died. So I hire a nanny. I pay other person here and Austrians pay me there. I use to say, it is simply irony of the fortune. Because I have to take care of someone and some stranger is taking care for my kids.” (Zora, 37, married, 3 children) Similar experience has those with parents which need elderly care. With respect to domestic elderly carer was their situation contradictive as they weren’t able to take care own parents because they serve to “other” parents for wage.

“And suddenly situation in my family made my three-weekly commuting impossible. So we decided that my husband will go. And I have started to look for a family which needs only weekly or bi-weekly 24-hours elderly carer. If he is at home I am abroad.” (Lenka, 56 years, married, 3 children) And those domestic elderly carers whose parents were still self-reliant were bothering in their thinking about the future of their parents. On the one side they were worried about their 18

health, on the other they prepared themselves for the best strategy. The strategy consisted of either plans to stop working abroad or to manage somehow necessary care while commuting.

“My mum has health problems… She was to hospital, now she feels better… I take care for strangers and it would be better if I can take care for my mum… What I would like the best is to care for my mum even for free. But it is simply impossible. However, if she really becomes immobile, my mom, maybe I really stop to do this work. I want to be with her up to her death.

I wish she will never need such support but one never knows.” (Eva, 47 years old, married, 5 children) “…I am bothering at the moment because of my mom. She is 80 now and almost immobile.

She has problems with arthritically knee joints. Doctor suggested her operation but she refused it because of her age. She lives with my sister who has serious financial problems and she plans to go abroad to earn some money… She can’t stay alone… But she doesn’t want to come to my place. I could be with her two weeks and rest two weeks there is my husband.”

(Mirka, 56 years, married, 3 children) Hired-care givers for children experienced very similar mode of work as their mother abroad.

Elderly carer in Austria hired nanny for a 24-hour domestic work which consisted of care for children, cooking and basic cleaning for whole two weeks.

“The nanny spent whole two weeks with kids, she slept and ate at my place. I did not want her to tidy up, only in kitchen after cooking. I wanted her mostly to pay attention to children, in order not to feel alone. I wanted her to play with them, to learn with them. Because I noticed that while I was at home they had better results at school. When I was away they had much worse grades. It was vivid what psychics did with them. But later when they got use to nanny, they became friends and it was much better. She was a woman from… (town nearby). She slept here for two weeks. Her children were adults so she was alone. She spent two weeks at home and two weeks at my place…” (Zora, 37 years, married, 3 children) Despite highly effective management of the care, this solution was emotionally difficult for both mother and children.

“I was very satisfied with her. But as I say, those times were extremely difficult for me, for kids, I cried in Austria. It was simply difficult… But this led to some psychological problems of children. They have some traumas because they are without me. Well, I must say, now it is better, after those years, they have already coped with it because they are older now. But still, I think that this will never disappear from their memory.” (Zora, 37, married, 3 children) Another strategy identified by research how to cope with a need for care for family members was taking the children with elderly carer to work. This strategy use to apply especially younger women with smaller children however not only. If the family and household enable this opportunity, females use to take small or sick children with them for whole two weeks shift. The determination for this strategy was also the state of patient – if domestic worker had enough personal time to take care also for own child.

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“After some time, it depends on the family I take my son with me. But it is not like I am coming with son first day in the family. Do you understand? But if the family is open, open to discussion. I pay for food. Sometimes also my husband visited me, it was when I was in mountains. And I paid food from my money.” (Lenka, 56 years, married, 3 children)

Who cares for household? Competences at home.

When having deeper insight into the housework competences during the absence of the women at home it was clear that tasks provided by husbands/partners were rather limited.

Most of the activities were related to cooking and just small housework. Thus, research findings indicate that traditional gender divisions are persisting. In fact, double burden for domestic workers in their families persist despite experience of migration.

“My husband is great cook. He always cooks for me when I come back home… But regarding the household it is awful. Laundry of whole family waits for me. I use to tidy up whole four days, I do laundry, ironing, tidy up… Oh my God! It is a disaster. Well, and it is simply too much for him. But the most important is that he is not starving, he can cook. (Veronika, 37 years, married, 2 children) “When I am at work my mother cooks. I mean for children. My husband eats at work. Before I left, I have bought a lot of food for fridge and storage... Regarding cleaning, my daughter does it. She is 16 now. However, when I get home I have to do it in my way. That’s why I have to tidy up for two days. But she can’t do laundry; it is my mother’s competence. Firstly my daughter did it but now rather mother.” (Veronika, 37 years, married, 2 children) Immediately after the arrival females declared high extent of the housework which has not been done during their absence. Informants at the same time declared also the feeling of responsibility. They perceive some guilt for their absence and they demonstrate also symbolically their membership toward family with undertaking services for the family.

“Every time, regularly, I need to tidy up for first two-three days after coming home in order to be able to exist there” (Petra, 53 years, married, 3 children) “You are there for two weeks and at home two weeks. When I come back I only do laundry, iron clothes, because dust is everywhere, well it is a circle. I also do gardening at home, preserve fruits and vegetables, and do everything for kids. I always bake cakes for kids.

Always when I am at home I try hard to serve my kids everything like a cook, what they like or bake. Usually, I use to cook food for whole two weeks and freeze it into the freeze. I wanted to neither grandma nor nanny to cook. They only take it out and warm up in the microwave oven. During the year they have lunches at school. And during the weekends they had cooked food in the fridge. I always have some work. I do not rest even at home. And the heart hurts.”

(Zora, 37 years, married, 3 children) Many informants declared their efforts to prepare household for the time of their absence. To do all possible house works such as tidy up, do laundry, iron clothes for the family. At the 20

same they were bothering regarding nutrition of the family. Due to this reason many of informants declared large shopping before departure and cooking several main courses in advance – in order to make nutrition of the husband and children as easy as possible. The food was frozen afterwards and ready for easy consumption – to be put in the microwave oven for instance.

“Always before I leave I use to do very large shopping and leave all food to husband. I also use to cook and freeze some main courses for him. I say, here you have chicken, there is another main course. This you can have on Sunday. He is able to cook some simple dish.

During the week he eats in the school canteen. Worse situation is during the summer holidays. He use to drive to her mother’s place (30 kilometres far), stays with her for a few days and then return home. He is already used to it. It is almost four years since I have left abroad for the first time… He doesn’t do laundry. I do all laundry after I return home. He does some small things… Simply we established our own mode of existence.” (Mirka, 56 years, married, 3 children) Despite all of the interviewees declared unchanged power relations in the family, they however gained some remittances of gender equality. Interviewees have observed and experienced different gender roles and contracts within families in Austria what enabled them some reflexion of power relations in their families at country of origin.

“I can see many differences...And the husband of my patient, he can stand really a lot regarding his wife. She is very rude to him as well. He comes and she starts to yell at him, she tried to send him on a guilt trip. Slovak man would really had a fuss with her immediately. I know that not every man. But many females I know complain how choleric their men are...

And Austrians are much more hard working. This one, in the family where I work, use to come from work and then work here around the house… My husband comes from the work tired and he doesn’t want to do anything. I know that he is car-mechanic and works hard. But the Austrian man is much older. And I really can’t tell this to my husband, he would be really angry that I criticize him.” (Eva, 47 years, married, 5 children) “My husband never sweeps, clean with vacuum cleaner or washes the floor. He just put his clothes to washing machine. That’s it. And kids wash the dishes.” (Eva, 47 years, married, 5 children) In general, vast majority of females declared certain increase of the self-confidence.

Informants declared that experience -simply the fact that they are self-reliant, able to care for themselves abroad, have gained new skills and duties rather supported them.

“You know, my self-confidence increased. It is boosted also by the fact that I do not depend on husband’s money anymore. I had been working part time. The kids attended schools, later my daughter studied at the university. And I had constantly depended on husband’s money.

And this has really completely changed. So my life has changed in this direction as well. I live my own life now. Children left the house. And my life has completely different quality. I do not need bother where I get money to pay schools and other needs of the kids. Now it is much better I would say.” (Andrea, 56 years, married, 3 children) 21

“I definitely feel more self-confident. Life is different in the town in comparison to village where I live. I was suddenly simple woman from village in the bit city. You know the person has some pride and respect even here in the village. And after this experience, I widened my knowledge, gained new experiences and knowledge. Like I have learnt German or get the experience to live in other country, other world, to see far world. I wanted to go there only to see how other people live and to test myself. To test myself in sense if I am able to take care of myself. It makes me happy that I was there and I was able to take care of myself.” (Oľga, 47 years, married, 2 children)

5. TRANSNATIONAL FAMILIES

Transnational families are essentially those that reside in different countries but which sustain active, regular links and connections with one another across state borders, they develop “new” ways of “doing” family care – the ways in which organisational arrangements, relations and practices of family care-giving are structured across long distances and national borders (Yeates, 2009:23). Migration of woman abroad and her absence in the family has significant impact on personal live of migrant worker, on her relatives left behind, on the children and partners/husbands in particular. Elderly carers expressed various emotions emerging from family separation. The strongest feelings of separation experience, indeed, mothers of the dependent children. As Parrenas (Parrenas, 2001:116) points out, the pain of family separation creates various feelings, including helplessness, regret, and guilt for mothers, and loneliness, vulnerability, an insecurity for children. Slovak elderly carers experiences huge difficulties emerging from their separation despite fact, that their absence is only temporary. Despite this they feel unable to provide all three main forms of care expected to ensure reproduction of the family: moral care (meaning the provision of discipline and socialisation), emotional care (meaning the provision emotional security) and material care (provision of the physical needs of dependents) (Parrenas, 2001:117). The Slovak elderly carers in this sense developed various strategies how to substitute missing types of care.

The most common feelings regarding family separation were related to the feeling of sadness, guilt or responsibility. Guilt was strengthened by persisting traditional norms in Slovakia as mother should be with her children in any case. As Maria, mother of the three dependent children expresses: “Still I have to think, oh my God, they are alone at home and I am away. Maybe, they would like to eat cake now and I suppose to bake it for them. It is just not normal if mum is not at home close to them. And I suffer even now, after those years. But fortunately, it is a bit better now. But still, it is terrible that females have to leave kids and families.” (Zora, 37 years, married, 3 children) Emotional impact of separation made informants even trouble to express them. Maria describes her feelings: 22

“Well, I it is very hard how my son stands it. It is even difficult to talk about it for me. I don’t know. When I have started he was six years old, first year in primary school. I got divorced, we lived at my parents place. At the first glance I seemed to be all right. Because mum came and always brought some presents, like a toys. He was not used to because we did not have money. After first salary I cried, I have never seen so many money before. But after some time he has started to have problems with behaviour in school.” (Jarmila, 27 years, divorced, 1 child) The pain of transnational parenting was excused with precarious situation. Informants emphasized their efforts to explain children the reasons of their absence that they can’t return because of family dependence on their earning.

“The beginnings were, to be honest with you, very hard for me. I was used to spend lots of time with my small children. We used to learn together, I did everything with them. I felt guilty. But now I think they understand that this is not a free choice, it is a must. Because of the financial situation, purchase of the house and loan, house reconstruction. It was very very hard, terrible for me. But now (after two years) it is much better. …My son had too many ties towards me, he was 10. Those beginnings were difficult. Always before my departure he declared that he feel bad, he is ill, always was something with him. Luckily grandparents are there. At least there is someone for them. Because my husband works hard as well, from early morning up to the late evening. He doesn’t have time and space to learn with them. My son and daughter have to be self-reliant. And now I can see that there is also something positive in this – my son stopped to be dependent on me, it is better now. (Veronika, 37 years, married, 2 children) Domestic workers use to be labelled also as “labourers of love” or “labourers of sorrow” due to the fact that their sole motivating force for seeking domestic work is their love for their children, migrant mother seeks every opportunity to maximize their earnings in order to bring money to their children (Parrenas, 2001:120).

“I have been crying many many times. God, what a life do I have? But, many women live like me. Do we need such life? But kids are the reason. Person simply has to go. Kids need clothes, this and that, new jacket or shoes... I do it for them.” (Zora, 37 years, married, 2 children) Domestic workers try to substitute missing moral and emotional care for kids with material goods, various presents and gifts.

“He has become pampered. I have to admit. Because I have started to buy him many many things, gifts. And it was my fault because I tried to give him everything what I had not been able before. I bought him clothes, toys, I don’t know whatever, bicycle, really good one which costs 200 euro. It was in first class at school; other children use to have bicycles since early childhood. Even though mum tried hard. I had very difficult periods of life.” (Jarmila, 27 years, divorced, 1 child)

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“I always try to bring them something. They expect it. Some biscuits, chocolate. When I worked in the city I used to buy also clothes, shoes. They were really happy to have something from Austria…” (Eva, 47 years, married, 5 children) In order to be present in everyday life of their children use elderly carers with small kids different channels of communication. Despite their earnings are not very high and communication expensive, the touch with family is worth for them more than money. As Maria, mother of the three dependent children explains, she counted that she can afford to call every second day for five minutes and it is worth for her: “I try to call every two days because calling to Slovakia is pretty expensive. But if you don’t hear them it is even worse. And I know that I can’t stay without touch with kids for two weeks.

They are my kids; I don’t care how expensive calling is then and call them every two days. I don’t mind the money I spend. I want to talk to children. But it hurts when they are happy that they hear me. I call every two days but not more than five minutes.” (Zora, 37 years, married, 3 children) Developments and innovations in communication and transport technologies have enabled greater frequency and immediacy of contact within such families, while communication technology is especially important in engendering intimacy from afar, it also reproduces the family bond – be it through cultural contact or personal involvement of migrant in the everyday lives and decisions of their family remaining in the source country (Levitt in Yeates, 2008:24).

“The small girl often calls me. At least cells exist. I pay pretty high bills, but I don’t care because I am happy to hear family. And also husband calls me.” (Eva, 47 years, married, 5 children) With no doubts family separation have significant impact on the family, not only on the children missing mother, but also on the migrant woman itself.

“But even later I had some traumas because of the kids. Because I desperately missed them in Austria. I used to cry a lot during the nights.” (Zora, 37 years, married, 3 children)

Relationship of couples, does it change?

Live-in domestic work and separation from family has impacts also in terms of marriage and partnership. Long-term absence, in several cases strengthened also by migration of the husband/partner causes various negative impacts, most likely alienation of partners. On the other hand, some of interviewees declared rather strengthening of the relationship as the impact of separation. As separation is only temporary, relationships might discover new levels of closeness based on the rareness of being together. Again, research has shown different perception and impact on those families with small children and young couples than among those in older age.

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The most emotional experience had younger women. Alienation, disappearance of closeness of partners is some of the results.

“My husband works abroad, he commutes on monthly basis. It is... terrible. We see each other really few. Kids get to see him only rarely, me either. We are too far from each other...

And in such situations couples use to divorce. Because people do not understand each other anymore. They are not like male and female. One is here, other is there... I can see it in my family. We do not have common topics to talk about. After some days together, when it becomes better, he or I have to go abroad.” (Zora, 37 years, married, 3 children) As Jana, mother of the two dependent kids, explains, separation is connected with fear of affairs: “And my relationship with husband… Hm, maybe it is better like this. I don’t know. I think that the most important is that I am not looking for any affair and my husband either. We trust each other. He doesn’t have to do it at home. But, if he would be interested, he would have…

Simply, we trust to each other.” (Veronika, 37 years, married, 2 children) However, commuting on the bi-weekly basis have also, in life-stories of domestic workers, positive impacts in form of strengthening of relationship based on the rareness of being together. As Jarmila describes: “My absence definitely has some influence on the relationship. When I was married my exhusband migrated to work abroad. I stayed at home and it was hardly bearable, because of the jealousy. But in this relationship, we have been together for two years, it is always as on the beginning... And we always look forward to each other. We discuss everything, we have very long talks. And maybe because of all those problems which we have – with finances, health problems which I have, nerves, the problems with the kid, it empowers us. But my boyfriend is bothering because I am sad that I have to go abroad.” (Jarmila, 27 years, divorced, 1 child) Completely different experience and feelings had females over 50 years which participated on the research. For them migration means also personal growth, chance to learn new skills, language. They enjoyed time of independence from husbands influence, from duties in the family. Some role in their experience played also empty-nest syndrome and need to move forward in the life. Marta, mother of the three adult children, values especially newly emerged joy for her and her husband, which was not experienced for a long time before: “I perceive this time without being with my husband (laugh), that he is now aware of my value and who I am for him. He values me when I am coming back home. I can see that he likes me, that he likes me more now in comparison he liked me at the times of being together every day.

If we are separated for a while, it strengthens the love between us. But it is not always like in my family. I know some pairs who divorced – divorced because woman went to work to Austria.” (Petra, 53 years, married, 3 children) Similar experiences have also other interviewed females. They have not perceived their time spend in the work as having negative impact on the marriage. Their concerns were related 25

rather in material needs of the husband without experiencing any special trauma or feeling loneliness. Just oppositely, money earned by them enable couple to spend some special time together, improve well-being of their household, and they do not experience need to be together in everyday life.

“The relationship of marriage in such a case is very different I would say and it depends of the age. Younger females have much worse situation than we have. From my experience, my husband is 64 years old and I am 59. It is only good for us. We are precious to each other and our relationship is very nice. We have started to look forward to each other. (Zuzana, 59 years, married, childless) “I think that my husband did not expect that we will end up like this – living separately because of my work. I think that we will stand it for some few more years. It is like this… You know, when children were small, we had eyes only for them. We overlooked husbands.

Children were everything. When the children left only empty space remained. And we started to fight somehow; we started to impute each other. And the relationship has become quite difficult. It is better leaving then… (Katarína, 53 years, married, 2 children) Some life stories also indicate that being transmigrant separated from the family and relationship might be strategy to escape from unfavourable partner´s relationship.

“My husband works on three-weekly basis. Sometimes we meet only for one day, he came on Monday evening and I left on Tuesday. We have ideal marriage…” (Andrea, 56 years, married, 3 children)

6. WORK WITH THE EMOTIONS

The emotions have key importance for domestic elder care work, not only from perspective of the reproductive labour where is the border between labour and emotion blurred, but also from perspective of the character of the work performed. Emotions play important role for both sides – for the carers but also for the cared person.

The elder care demands several activities as various tasks attributed to carer. The paper doesn’t offer enough space for exploration more in deep tasks and duties of the elderly carer.

However, this chapter focus more on the emotional aspects of the work performed.

In fact elder carers´ key competence is to assist elderly person with everyday needs, cooking and cleaning. The vague definition of the assistance with everyday needs leads to broad range of exploitation. The research has shown wide area of exploitation of domestic workers – to who serve assistance, where is the border between needs of cared person and needs of other members of the household? Among duties of the carer, demands and needs of cared person is need of emotional support and emotional engagement. As many of the interviewees emphasized, this work cannot be performed without the love. As Andrea explains: 26

„It is hard without empathy, love and ability to empathize in person which you take care for.

Well, it is possible without feelings, but you can’t satisfy both sides then. Try to just imagine…

You are only the stranger for the person which you care for. And that person gives the life into your hands and trusts you. You can cheat but only a while. Sooner or later will problems emerge and the work will change into a forced work.” (Andrea, 56 years old, married, 3 children) “This was just mine decision; I do not consider this work as degrading or humiliating. I consider it rather as a mission – mission to serve others. This is not easy job but not everybody is able to stand it.” (Zuzana, 59 years, married, childless) As B. Anderson points out, there are two basic meanings which are difficult to differentiate, care in meanings of labour and care in meaning of emotion (Anderson, 2011:114). Love and emotional engagement is at the same time important component of the elder care. In this sense the domestic carers sells to family not only her labour but also her emotion.

“We have to be also psychologists. We have to be able to give psychological support. Every grandma, every patient needs it. And I am exactly that type of person – I love other human beings, I love to care for others.” (Katarína, 53 years, married, 2 children) “Every morning when I am going to wake old lady up I try to smile and have positive emotions. We have to influence them with positive mood. It is important for those ill people to see nice not sad face.” (Mirka, 56 years, married, 3 children) Emotional labour from perspective of A. Hochschild means producing the proper state of mind in others and thus emotional labour requires the production and consumption of the worker’s identity as part of the customer service experience (1983:7). This has several implications with respect to elderly carers. On the one side serving emotional labour domestic worker copes with broad range of conflicts arising from unequal relations in between of employer and employee due to the different expectations of the both sides. What is the proper behaviour of the carer, how should carer approach towards cared person? There are different behavioural expectations depending on that are doing the emotional labour and these different expectations are based on social norms, which construct identities that privilege some at the expense of subordinating others (Chong, 2009:177). Thus, in reality two different worlds use to meet with different expectations and demands related to care.

“It is crucial how the person you take care is. When I worked in the previous family, it was awful. I used to travel home crying. She even refused me to have those two hours daily off.

When I was there I felt like a servant or like a prisoner in jail. It was terrible pressure on my mind…” (Veronika, 37 years, married, 2 children) On the other side there is often emerges close emotional ties in between of carer and cared person which has, in case of elder care, much more significant consequences in comparison to child care. Certain reflection of emotional engagement reflects also discourse about domestic elder care with carers. There are several terms used by elder carers from Slovakia in order to refer to cared person. The most commonly used in their everyday discourse were the name of 27

cared person, for instance Franz, Marta, others most commonly used were patient, client, old lady, old sir, mom, dad, grandpa and grandpa. Especially those reflecting affiliation were commonly expressed with emotional engagement.

“I always tell her, I don’t feel like being in the work. I feel like I am with my mom.” (Oľga, 47 years, married, 2 children) “He is very good. For instance when he eats some fruit always gives me half. He is like my dad... And I like him like a dad. Maybe it is wrong. I don’t know. But I couldn’t take care for someone whom I don’t like. I think that without relationship and love it isn’t even possible. I can’t imagine saying, I am going there just for the money, and I have to suffer two weeks, oh my god why I have to go.” (Andrea, 56 years, married, 3 children) Emotions of engagement, possibility to serve others, to take care for someone were important component of the job. The emotional labour is gendered to significant extent and providing care is perceived as natural female area – due to the emotional capacities of the women. This has been reflected in the perception of elderly care by domestic workers themselves. As there are no special requirements to become elder care in Slovakia, just vocational training and basic knowledge of German, emphasis is given to emotional capabilities of females. As Maria express her perception: “I did not know firstly that such opportunity exists. My mother-in-law has started with this job via her friend. And she told me that it is good job. She said: 'You are able to take care for household, you can cook, and you know how to take care for persons. And I can see that you can take care for someone because you are sensitive, loving. I know I am so I tried.” (Zora, 37 years, married, 3 children) The emotional engagement was at the same time emphasized to be important component of the job for especially older domestic carers. Many interviewed emphasized that to work as elderly carer reminds them relationships in the family, they simply feel like taking care for their parents.

“I found myself in this work. I always wanted to be a nurse. But it wasn’t possible. But I simply like this work. And without joy it is not possible to do it properly. I can’t say that that money is not earned hard. They are. Because there is much work with this grandpa, in the household, with cooking, simply he is not able to live without support of other person. I consider it normal like I am taking care for my dad.” (Andrea, 56 years, married, 3 children) Elderly carers must cope with the situation that cared person fixes on them – they not only provide “love”, they at the same time have to be prepared to receive engagement and affection from the side of the cared persons.

“The old man I cared for has started to really adore me. He always cried when I left home for two weeks... He simply fixed on me... He used to say that I am like his wife which days year ago. The female which had shift with me asked me: What have you done to him? I had only nice time with him, talk to him a lot, played games and card at the evenings... Last month’s it was the worst. What should I do? I couldn’t be with him all the time. I was looking 28

forward to see my kids, my family. And last time he drove me crazy almost. He cried terribly.

He had been looking for me three days and then he fell into a coma. He had been in coma for three months and died. I felt that it might be my guilt. He was like he wanted to own me, all the time. But what should I do? I really missed him, he was very good person.” (Zora, 37 years, married, 3 children) Elderly carers suffered from the lack of social and professional recognition within the families. As P. Hondagneu-Sotelo points out, domestic workers want social recognition and appreciation for which they are and what they do, but they don’t often get it from the employers (Hondagneu-Sotelo, 2001:11). In such cases, domestic workers emphasized emotions and emotional engagement of the cared person as recognition of the qualities of the carer. To be loved by family or cared persons mean for elderly carers prove that they are “professional performers” of their work.

“I had very good relationship with previous patient. Not with a family but with him. Grandpa went to hospital because he had serious health problem, you know, I when I was at home his daughter called me that do not need me anymore. She said that he is well and he wanted me only as a companion. So I finished there. But I have great relationship with him even now, we stay in touch, call to each other regularly. He doesn’t know how to forget me. But this is their pity, not mine”. (Petra, 53 years, married, 3 children) Deep emotional engagement into the work performed has also its peculiarities. Such engagement creates illusion of being member of the family. However, is it really true?

Empirical evidence from large number of cases studies (Anderson 2001, Hondagneu-Sotelo 2001, Búriková 2011) shows that this is just the illusion which often only strengthens unequal power relations and with using maternalism meets rather with expectations of the family than with a rights of the domestic workers. The research identified very difficulties with negotiation of the rights of domestic workers as a result. Not always was this false maternalism understood by domestic workers. For instance after number of negative experiences Eva value just the fact that the family is open to discuss with her and exhibit her interest and sympathy, she is open to subordinate then: “I really love this job. I found myself in this profession. To care for someone really impress me. If the work and family are good, they talk to me, I prefer to find compromise and even subordinate to expectations of the family. I don’t have problem. But I need to work with open people. I can work with immobile person for instance or very ill, but if so I need to work with enthusiasm and joy.” (Eva, 47 years old, married, 5 children) When the life ends...

Very present component of the elder care is death of the cared person. This component of the emotional labour has particular consequences. The research identified different attitudes of elder carers – different among those more experienced and those who have just started with elder care. In fact, death had significant impact on psychics of elder care. However, at the same time they emphasized that it is “professional” component of their work and they have to be able to handle it.

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“I remember one grandma. She died 3th February. And it was... powerful. She was able to speak only silently at the end. She did not have any interest to live. Bud she said to me: 'Don’t worry, I am not going to do it before your birthday.' I had birthday 1st February. (Jarmila, 27 years, divorced, 1 child) Domestic elder carer has to cope with situation that person which she had developed emotional relationship with and which she cared for simply passed away. This situation have generated various emotions from fear, regret to resolution to stand it.

“In my first family, my first patient. I was sad when he died. I really had lots of in common with him. I really regret when he died... It was very hard for me just to handle it. And I was alone there, I was so scared. But I told to myself, I have to prepare myself psychologically I have to stand it. I have been always scared of dead people. But I told to myself, you have started to do this job and it is part of it. You have to overcome your fear.” (Eva, 47 years, married, 5 children) The blurred borders between emotions and work are visible in the other dimension of the elder care. Informants have experiences with emerging also deeper relationships with families where they had worked before – through persisting staying in touch, sending cards, presents etc. However domestic workers described this as rather rare.

Conclusion The paper deals with how contemporary Slovak women join new international division of reproductive labour and participate on the globalization of the care services.

Being domestic worker doesn’t mean the same as being employee in the productive labour.

Domestic work means paid reproductive labour where labour and emotion is not separable.

Emotions are component of the expected tasks what make this work even more difficult – through emotional engagement. Elderly carers from Slovakia are predominantly women which commute to work every two weeks. They are transmigrants performing their paid working tasks in both households – in the country of origin and in the country of destination.

The worsening economic and social situation in the Slovakia, changing family patterns and broad informal networks are key boosters on the side of Slovakia while ageing of the population in Austria, welfare regime, migration and gender regimes are key pull factors in the side of Austria.

The one of the coping strategies for a household and family maintenance is economic activity and migration to a country with a better economic and income possibilities. Austria, due to the significant care deficits and open migration regime for Slovaks as the EU member state, offers relatively easy economic participation to Slovak women either formally or informally. The socio-demographic and socio-structural changes in Austrian society play a large role in regard to the rising demand for domestic services (Heidinger, 2008, 133). The housework is most commonly allocated to a employed domestic worker living-out while live-in domestic workers are hired predominantly to take care for elderly people.

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The particular case of Slovak domestic care workers represents in comparison other studies dealing with a problematic in the Central European area (Heidinger 2009, Tolstokorova 2009) different mode of migration. The case of Slovak female migrants is rather example of “life in motion” or said by word of Morokvasic – “settled in mobility” as the two weeks commuting is long term strategy for a numbers of females.

Their work has significant consequences on the families in the country of origin. Gender is a social construction connected with ascribed or expected roles, behaviour, prejudices, stereotypes, assessment or self-assessment, projections what is and what is not appropriate for men and women within society. Gender is conceptualized as a “process, as one of several ways humans create and perpetuate social differences, helps to deconstruct the myth of gender as a product of nature while underscoring its power dimensions (Mahler – Pessar, 2001, s.

442) One of the key questions of the research was whether transnational migration affects gender roles within the family. The research clearly indicates that gender operates simultaneously on multiple spatial and social scales across transnational terrains. The participation and acting as an economic migrant, earning wage and bringing remittances – economic remittances, social remittances as well as remittances of the gender equality influenced the position of the female within the household at the country of origin. From the individual perspective – the perspective of females, they declared significant gains such as gaining new skills, selfconfindence, emancipation. Those declared gains however differed and re-negotiations of the positions and responsibilities within family and household – as the research indicates – confirms persisting of the traditional partriarchal power relations.

Despite feeling of some emancipation, gaining new skills and self-confidence empirical material shows persisting traditional gender roles in the family – women were performed in socially constructed modes generally accepted within the Slovak society. Moreover, even domestic elder care has strengthened gender norms as they were filling in “natural” attributes of feminity – providing love and care.

On the level of transnational household women face double burden of household care and work. Grandparents, husband or other family members might take over responsibilities during the absence of female, present is also strategy to hire a paid-care giver (such as nanny).

Household care in home country is delegated to other household members, even outside family. However, after return carers take over the responsibilities back. Women face difficulties as impact of the transnational motherhood and transnational family. The pain of separation, various feelings generated by loneliness are present among mothers while children suffer from lack of emotional support.

Particular connotations has emotionality of the work performed – emotional engagement of the domestic workers, emotional engagement of the cared person but also with respect to the expectation from women to provide emotional work, to be “appropriate” carer.

Emotions and emotional work thus generates various positive and negative implications which are in many ways contradictory. While giving additional pressure on the work, causing 31

and generating various negative consequences such as strengthening traditional gender norms, strengthening of the unequal position of the carer it is at the same also reason of the joy of domestic elder carers and the reason why they do this work. Thus, domestic elder care of Slovak women to Austria present example of the gendered division of labour and shows controversy of contemporary transformation of gender relations in the course of globalization processes. In fact those transformations generate two opposite trends – on the one side feminisation of migration, increasing participation of the women on the productive labour and their emancipation and strengthening of the traditional gender contract on the other.

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