The Re-Organization of the Family Care in an International Migration Context

Abstract

This paper presents the link between the characteristics of the social protection system and the commodification of the assistance. In order to show this, the care providing strategies for the elderly are analysed in the Autonomous Regions in Spain according to the implication of the state social policy, the migratory model and the incorporation of female native population into the labour market. The aging of population, the changes in the socio-labour expectations of native women and the lost of social networks supporting family care have challenged the role of the social protection system and have shown new ways of personal attention within the households. The governmental replies for the provision of long term care have been based on the passing of the regulation of dependence within the framework of the Spanish state policy and the spread of cash transfers. The hiring of a female domestic worker as a care giver has been the alternative followed by the families, in certain cases encouraged by the raise of these economic benefits. This fact has changed the Spanish care system where the re-organization of care does not imply a more balanced sexual and generational division of assistance tasks, but in the commodification of this work. The sharp increase of feminized and irregular immigrant population has favoured that the care sector in the framework of domestic work becomes a relevant labour niche for foreigners.