Re-examining the middle-class thesis: Class profiles of families employing migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong

Adam Ka-Lok Cheung

doi:10.1177/01171968211069697

Re-examining the middle-class thesis: Class profiles of families employing migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong

Adam Ka-Lok Cheung^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

To what extent is employing migrant domestic workers (MDWs) a middle-class practice in Hong Kong? I drew quantitative data from the Population Census and a representative household survey to test the middle-class thesis. The results show that a significant proportion of the families that currently employ or had ever employed MDWs were not from middle-class backgrounds. As the practice of hiring MDWs spread to families from lower socio-economic background, it may be expected that the working and living conditions of MDWs may deteriorate due to the fewer resources of these families.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	450-465
Number of pages	16
Journal	Asian and Pacific Migration Journal
Volume	30
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/01171968211069697
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2021

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities

User-Defined Keywords

Hong Kong
migrant domestic workers
migration policies
outsourcing domestic labor

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10.1177/01171968211069697

Cite this

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title = "Re-examining the middle-class thesis: Class profiles of families employing migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong",

abstract = "To what extent is employing migrant domestic workers (MDWs) a middle-class practice in Hong Kong? I drew quantitative data from the Population Census and a representative household survey to test the middle-class thesis. The results show that a significant proportion of the families that currently employ or had ever employed MDWs were not from middle-class backgrounds. As the practice of hiring MDWs spread to families from lower socio-economic background, it may be expected that the working and living conditions of MDWs may deteriorate due to the fewer resources of these families.",

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note = "Funding Information: The author disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Early Career Scheme of the Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee of the Hong Kong SAR Government (ECS/HKBU/28603817). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Scalabrini Migration Center 2021.",

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AU - Cheung, Adam Ka-Lok

N1 - Funding Information: The author disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Early Career Scheme of the Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee of the Hong Kong SAR Government (ECS/HKBU/28603817). Publisher Copyright: © Scalabrini Migration Center 2021.

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N2 - To what extent is employing migrant domestic workers (MDWs) a middle-class practice in Hong Kong? I drew quantitative data from the Population Census and a representative household survey to test the middle-class thesis. The results show that a significant proportion of the families that currently employ or had ever employed MDWs were not from middle-class backgrounds. As the practice of hiring MDWs spread to families from lower socio-economic background, it may be expected that the working and living conditions of MDWs may deteriorate due to the fewer resources of these families.

AB - To what extent is employing migrant domestic workers (MDWs) a middle-class practice in Hong Kong? I drew quantitative data from the Population Census and a representative household survey to test the middle-class thesis. The results show that a significant proportion of the families that currently employ or had ever employed MDWs were not from middle-class backgrounds. As the practice of hiring MDWs spread to families from lower socio-economic background, it may be expected that the working and living conditions of MDWs may deteriorate due to the fewer resources of these families.

KW - Hong Kong

KW - migrant domestic workers

KW - migration policies

KW - outsourcing domestic labor

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DO - 10.1177/01171968211069697

M3 - Journal article

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VL - 30

SP - 450

EP - 465

JO - Asian and Pacific Migration Journal

JF - Asian and Pacific Migration Journal

IS - 4

ER -

Re-examining the middle-class thesis: Class profiles of families employing migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong

Abstract

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