Live-in foreign domestic workers and their impact on Hong Kong's middle class families

Hau Nung, Annie CHAN

Research output: Journal PublicationsJournal Article (refereed)peer-review

52 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper discusses the impact of foreign domestic workers (FDWs) on parental roles and family dynamics of Hong Kong's middle class families. The increase in married women's labor force participation in Hong Kong has led to a greater demand for childcare, which has been filled by FDWs. Based on interviews with 15 dual-earner couples in middle class nuclear families employing FDWs, how FDWs affect the mother's gender role and family dynamics is discussed. Boundary work is used by parents in their daily interaction with their children and their FDWs so as to reconcile the perceived indispensability of these workers on the one hand, and the challenges they pose to the definition of parenthood on the other.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)509-528
Number of pages20
JournalJournal of Family and Economic Issues
Volume26
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2005

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