The State’s Role in Global Care Chains

The state’s role in global care chains is often ignored in sociological and feminist evaluations. This is one flaw that has been observed in much of the discourse surrounding the topic, but as the topic becomes more widely discussed, other scholars — feminist, sociological, and otherwise — have made it their mission to include the state’s role. In a policy brief titled, “Women in global care chains: The need to tackle intersecting inequalities in G20 countries,” the authors discuss the importance of utilizing a multifaceted approach that includes roles besides those of the women who comprise these global care chains. The team of authors, including sociologists, policy advisors, and an operations research professor, state, “the Group of Twenty (G20) countries host 65% of the world’s international migrants (OECD 2018), and they are among the top destinations for migrant women (UN DESA 2019). In some countries, 10% of migrant workers are occupied in healthcare, social, or domestic work (OECD,2020). Therefore, G20 members are key stakeholders in delivering on the rights of women and migrant care workers, by designing policy responses to the challenges of global care chains.” (Sachetti et al, 2) Because of this, a focus on their role is crucial.

One major role that the state has in the creation and perpetuation of global care chains is the redefining of types of migrants. According to Nicola Yeates, an Irish professor of Social Policy, “at the general level, a large share of the increased migration from 1990 especially is attributed to changing state borders leading to the reclassification of internal migrants as international migrants.” (Yeates, 177) Yeates also emphasizes the lack of focus on the roles of sending countries in migration — more specifically migration related to participation in global care chains. Another role is the implementation of Structural Adjustment Programs. These programs result in the burden of carework being placed on women and this work is often unpaid. As stated by Amelia Pérez Orozco, a Spanish feminist economist, and activist, “the feminization of global survival circuits is one of the economic strategies developed by households in order to survive in contexts of crises. As social spaces where gendered power relations often make women responsible for domestic well-being, these households change structurally with the migration, becoming what have been called transnational households.” (Pérez Orozco, 4) Due to the gendered nature of society, the responsibility for carework often falls on women. Because it is a social expectation, its redistribution often remains outside of the legal frameworks of nations.

While there are countries that have immigration laws that hinder women’s ability to achieve permanent residency or citizenship, there are also some countries with immigration laws that make it easier for migrant women to attain them and many women tend to gravitate toward those countries. Some of the countries that women tend to seek out are the United States, Canada, and Spain. Because of the lack of an official structure of global care chains, the diaspora created by globalization and its social and economic consequences does not begin or end in one specific country or set of countries.