"No-policy Policy": Immigrant Women in Poland's Eldercare Sector Cover Image

"No-policy Policy": Immigrant Women in Poland's Eldercare Sector
"No-policy Policy": Immigrant Women in Poland's Eldercare Sector

Author(s): Anna Krajewska
Subject(s): Social Sciences
Published by: Instytut Stosowanych Nauk Społecznych Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: immigration; elderly care; women's migration

Summary/Abstract: The situation of migrant women undertaking work on foreign labour markets is difficult for a number of reasons, since in their case the problems of foreign employees regardless of gender are compounded by the problems that women encounter regardless of their nationality. Until recently, Poland did not have a problem of demand for foreign labour, the number of immigrants flowing into the country was relatively low, and there was no immediate opportunity for the issues pertaining to immigrant policy to arise as a subject of public debate. At the same time, Polish society is aging. Faced with the problem of a shrinking labour force, Poland’s authorities will most likely have to develop some kind of policy encouraging workers representing diverse ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds to come to the country. This article presents research findings concerning immigrants employed as eldercare workers in both the formal and informal elderly care sector in Poland. The research was conducted within the framework of an international research project entitled Gendered Citizenship in Multicultural Europe. The Impact of Contemporary Women's Movements (FEMCIT). The elderly care sector is, for several reasons, particularly interesting to those who research the issue of women's migration: firstly, it is predominantly feminized; and secondly, due to the aging of Polish society, the sector will most probably expand and open up to foreign labour. The research conducted within the FEMCIT project allowed the research team to indicate the main obstacles and challenges that policy-makers will need to overcome in designing immigration policy.

  • Issue Year: 2014
  • Issue No: 18 (2b)
  • Page Range: 165-184
  • Page Count: 19