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Care and Migration Regimes in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea

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Gender, Care and Migration in East Asia

Part of the book series: Series in Asian Labor and Welfare Policies ((Series in Asian Labor and Welfare Policies))

Abstract

Compared with nursing, care work is differently constructed in each society, with diverse qualifications applied across East Asia. When migrants are introduced they are meant to fit within the ambiguously constructed care regime, with different entitlements in each case. Based on ethnographic research, this chapter examines the migration of care workers in Taiwan, Japan, and Korea by introducing the concept of migration and care regimes, comparing how these regimes intersect and interrelate with each other. The author argues that migrant care workers are situated in the nexus of these two regimes, which define the entitlements of migrants as well as the quality of care. The research results reveal a diverse configuration of migrant care workers, but one commonality is the issue of social citizenship that does not allow migrants to be decommodified while providing care to others. The study shows that the quality of care and the entitlements of migrants are correlated and that if developed countries want a stable and good quality workforce, they need to provide care for their migrants.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For discussions on East Asian welfare states, see, for example, Aspalter (2006), Holliday (2000), Kwon (2005a, b), Lee and Ku (2007).

  2. 2.

    Taiwan passed such a law in 2015 but it will take some time for public elderly care services to be fully implemented.

  3. 3.

    Amendment of the bill to revise immigration law to include care workers in the visa status was promulgated in 2016.

  4. 4.

    Expansion of the workplace to home care has been discussed at the policy level.

  5. 5.

    Family reunion is a visa type that allows one to bring the family members. In most cases, the unskilled workers cannot bring their families while the skilled workers are allowed to do so.

  6. 6.

    According to JICWELS, which monitors the employers , there has been no major violation of the contract regarding their salaries (email exchange, 2015).

  7. 7.

    For 2015, the data are calculated from January to November.

  8. 8.

    Interviewed in Jakarta in September 2011 and in Taipei in September 2013.

  9. 9.

    There are more than 200 multicultural family support centers aiming to integrate marriage migrants, but not all of them provide this training.

  10. 10.

    The wages and the working conditions of yoyang pohosa are lower than other sectors and turnover rate is high owing to bad working conditions, health issues, and low social status (National Health Insurance Service 2014).

  11. 11.

    Interviewed in Seoul in September 2016.

  12. 12.

    Interviewed in Seoul in September 2016.

  13. 13.

    Long-Term Care Insurance was introduced in 2000 and contributed to removing the stigma of institutional care in Japan.

  14. 14.

    Interviewed in Taipei and Taichung in September 2013.

  15. 15.

    For example, the violation of human rights under Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) has been heavily criticized by civil society and the Japan Federation of Bar Associations has repeatedly issued statements to abolish TITP (JFBA 2015).

  16. 16.

    There are at least three routes as of 2017. Firstly, care workers will be accepted under TITP, which is a de facto guest worker program for “unskilled” laborers. Secondly, potential care workers will arrive as students who will be enrolled in technical schools and become certified care workers. Thirdly, domestic workers are introduced in National Strategic Special Zones (NSSZ) of Tokyo, Osaka, and Kanagawa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Social Sciences, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan

    Reiko Ogawa

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  1. Reiko Ogawa
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Chiba University, Chiba, Japan

    Reiko Ogawa

  2. City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Raymond K.H. Chan

  3. Chiba University, Chiba, Japan

    Akiko S. Oishi

  4. National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Lih-Rong Wang

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Ogawa, R. (2018). Care and Migration Regimes in Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. In: Ogawa, R., Chan, R., Oishi, A., Wang, LR. (eds) Gender, Care and Migration in East Asia. Series in Asian Labor and Welfare Policies. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7025-9_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7025-9_9

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