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The Migration of Nannies: From Global South to Global North

Introduction

There are women in third world countries who are leaving their families to come to places in the Global North to work as domestic workers or as nannies. These women, and only women, leave their children and husbands to become a surrogate mother and even a maid, to the family they are employed by. The struggles to make ends meet in this new world these women have created are difficult. It is even more difficult when they are mistreated and underpaid to do the work they were hired to do. Since these women may not have a legal status in the country they work in, they are subjected to all kinds of abuse since they are too afraid to call the authorities, or to even know the rights they have. These women are trying to help out their families and home country economies by sending remittances, but instead they are working long hours. Nannies are a common piece to a nuclear family home, but are still being neglected and are losing the fighting battle for the rights they truly deserve.

The Hard Life of a Nanny

Being a domestic worker, like a nanny, may seem to be a relatively easy job. But it turns out that being a nanny is a harder job than most people think it is. Nannies are often the most useful in everyday life when parents find themselves wanting children, but also wanting a more lavish lifestyle. Having a lavish lifestyle comes with the responsibility of having multiple incomes, which means both parents may have to work multiple jobs. Nannies are a great way to fill in and be the parents that are not at home due to their jobs. Nannies play a valuable role in the shaping of many homes and many children look up to their nannies as their guardians, rather than their actual parents. There are two main types of nannies: live-in and live-out domestic workers. Traditional domestic workers are often only around the children they are watching when needed, and at the end of their shift, they leave to go to their own house or apartment until their next shift. Live-in domestic workers are exactly what they sound like, domestic workers that live in the house with their family employer. Live-in domestic workers are most susceptible to abuse than traditional domestic workers because they are constantly under the scrutiny of the families. These women can be forced to never leave the home they work for and endure long, underpaid hours and abuse by the parents for the family. They are also likely to be rented out to family friends, just like slaves were in colonial times. Domestic workers have a special quality that makes them so great for watching children. Many people have suggested that love is transferable from one person to the next. This is seen with the way domestic workers and the children of the employer family interact. Domestic workers can give all of their misplaced love for their own children, which they had to leave behind and love to a different country to make money, and put all that love onto the children the domestic workers refer to as their own children. The nurturing mother-like love makes nannies such a wonderful asset to a nuclear family home with both parents working.

Under Paid and Over Abused

Domestic workers like nannies from third world countries, struggle each day to figure out their rights and what to do if the job they are at is threatening to their safety. The main reason for this is because these nannies are different than other nanny facilities, like Au pair. Since Au pair is funded through a government system, there is really no way to abuse the system without having the nanny pulled from the abusive household. Unlike Au pair, nannies from third world countries that are seeking remittances may not always know the rights that they have. Domestic workers from third world countries have a long history of being neglected and even abused. As Susan Cheever stated in Global Women, these women have a difficult time “adjusting to our New York.” Big cities are a culture shock to many domestic workers that come from small towns in impoverished countries. As one of the nannies described in Cheever’s chapter said, the children of New York City take charge over the parents, instead of the parents being in charge of the children. Cheever goes on in her chapter to explain why these women have such a hard time. Domestic workers work all day, and for most of them, all night as well. Domestic workers are taken for granted and often asked to do housework or other sorts of errands that don’t technically qualify as being a nanny.