Abstract
The chapter looks at fatherhood in the context of the ‘migrant handymen phenomenon’—the outsourcing of ‘male’ domestic work to migrant workers. In Germany, these migrants are mostly Poles; for 25 years, they have been dominating the supply side of a firmly established semi-legal market for domestic work. Palenga-Möllenbeck addresses the question of how this phenomenon is related to a new form of intra-European inequality, which is also reflected in a salient inequality of opportunities to live up to modern norms of fatherhood. The chapter concludes that the luxury of ‘quality time’ for children and the ostentatiously gender-equal lifestyle of German fathers in fact heavily relies on the precarious work and life of Polish fathers and gender inequality within their own families back home.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Out of a total of 2344 self-employed persons in the building sector, 47 were women. There was no subdifferentiation according to gender.
- 2.
See also Ringrose, this volume, for another example of how care and domestic work is being redefined as more ‘masculine’.
- 3.
The Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
- 4.
Until 2011, Polish handymen accessed the labour market indirectly by using the freedom of services rule provided by the EU (2006/123/EG) and the assignment guideline (96/71/EG). This practice was legally controversial (Dollinger, 2008, on binational placement agencies in elderly care), as most cases did not qualify as the provision of cross-border services. Likewise, many handymen working as independent contractors in the present sample did not meet the criteria for genuine self-employment (which consist of, essentially, having more than one client, working independently of detailed instructions and bearing entrepreneurial risk).
- 5.
The study combined three methods: Secondary analysis of regional statistics on handyman activities in the labour market; analysis of ‘brokering firms’ and Internet fora used by handymen and households; and, finally, 37 in-depth interviews with Polish handymen, their partners (specifically, thirteen interviews with men, two with couples, and two with female partners), informal brokers, and companies in the handyman sector, and men and women in households with dependent children (six with couples, two with men and three with women) employing Polish handymen. Student assistant Paulina Talar was involved in the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data.
- 6.
In the initial concept of ‘hegemonic masculinity’, Connell (1987) formulated the idea of ‘emphasised femininity’ as a female pendant to hegemonic masculinity that explains how heteronormative femininity support hegemonic masculinities (‘women’s conspiracy’). This part of the concept was not enhanced to the extent of the idea of multiple masculinities. Hence, this study aimed to explore the relationality of masculinities in both dimensions—within and between genders.
- 7.
See also Kilkey et al. (2013) for the UK.
- 8.
For more on the role of ethnic (auto)stereotypes of Polish handymen as opposed to German companies, see Palenga-Möllenbeck (2013a).
- 9.
References
Bereswill, M., & Neuber, A. (2011). Marginalised masculinity, precarisation and the gender order. In H. Lutz, M. T. Herrera-Vivar, & L. Supik (Eds.), Framing intersectionality: Debates on a multi-faceted concept in gender studies (pp. 69–87). Farnham: Ashgate.
Bereswill, M., Scheiwe, K., & Wolde, A. (Eds.) (2006). Vaterschaft im Wandel. Multidisziplinäre Analysen und Perspektiven aus geschlechtertheoretischer Sicht. Weinheim and München: Juventa.
Bourdieu, P. (1997). Die männliche Herrschaft. In B. Krais & I. Dölling (Eds.), Ein alltägliches Spiel. Geschlechterkonstruktionen in der Praxis (pp. 153–217). Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Bregin, D., & Kmita, D. (2012). Oferta opieki i wczesnej edukacji dla dzieci do 3. roku życia. Małe Dzieci w Polsce, 1(38), 123–129.
Chustecka, M. (2012). Kobieta kobiecie nierówna. Zróżnicowanie nieodpłatnej pracy kobiet. In A. Dryjanska (Ed.), Nieodpłatna praca kobiet—różowa strefa gospodarki (pp. 27–37). Warszawa: Heinrich Böll Stiftung and Fundacja Feminoteka.
Connell, R. (1987). Gender and power. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
Connell, R., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender & Society, 19(6), 829–859.
Connell, R. W. (1995). Masculinities. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Connell, R. W., & Wood, J. (2005). Globalization and business masculinities. Men and Masculinities, 7, 347–364.
Cox, R. (2010). Hired hubbies and mobile mums: Gendered skills in domestic service. Renewal, 18(1–2), 51–58.
Dollinger, F.-W. (2008). Von der Schwarzarbeit zur legalen pflegerischen Dienstleistung. Wie wir den Status der osteuropäischen Pflegerinnen legalisieren können. In Gesundheitspolitisches Seminar, April 26, 2008. Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
EACEA, Agencja Wykonawcza ds. Edukacji, Kultury i Sektora Audiowizualnego, Fundacja Rozwoju Systemu Edukacji. (2009). Wczesna edukacja i opieka nad dzieckiem w Europie: zmniejszanie nierówności i społecznych i kulturowych. Retrieved May 9, 2016, from http://tinyurl.com/hbj5cdg.
Ehrenreich, B., & Hochschild, A. (Eds.) (2003). Global woman: Nannies, maids and sex workers in the new economy. New York: Metropolitan Press.
Eurofund-European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. (2006). Working time and work–life balance in European companies. Establishment survey on working time 2004–2005. Retrieved January 17, 2013, from http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2006/27/en/1/ef0627en.pdf
Faist, T. (2001). Social citizenship in European Union. Nested membership. Journal of Common Market Studies, 39(1), 36–60.
Geissler, B., & Pfau-Effinger, B. (2005). Change in European care arrangements. In B. Pfau-Effinger & B. Geissler (Eds.), Care and social integration in European societies. Variations and change (pp. 3–19). Bristol: The Policy Press.
Glenn, E. N. (1992). From servitude to service work: Historical continuities in the racial division of paid. Reproductive labor. Signs, 18(1), 1–43.
Glenn, E. N. (2010). Forced to care. Coercion and caregiving in America. Harvard: Harvard University Press.
Goňalons-Pons, P. (2015). Gender and class housework inequalities in the era of outsourcing. Social Sciences Research, 52, 208–218.
Gordon, M. (1964). Assimilation in American life. New York: Oxford University Press.
Gottschall, K., & Schwarzkopf, M. (2010). Irreguläre Arbeit in Privathaushalten. Rechtliche und institutionelle Anreize zu irregulärer Arbeit in Privathaushalten in Deutschland. In Bestandaufnahme und Lösungsansätze. Düsseldorf: Hans-Böckler-Stiftung. Retrieved September 29, 2012, from http://www.boeckler.de/pdf/p_arbp_217.pdf
Grunow, D. (2007). Wandel der Geschlechterrollen und Väterhandeln im Alltag. In T. Mühling & H. Rost (Eds.), Väter im Blickpunkt. Perspektiven der Familienforschung (pp. 49–76). Opladen and Farmington Hills: Budrich.
Hearn, J. (2009). Patriarchies, transpatriarchies, and intersectionalities. In E. H. Oleksy (Ed.), Intimate citizenships. Gender, sexualities, politics. New York and London: Routledge.
Hirschauer, S. (2013). Geschlechts(in)differenz in geschlechts(un)gleichen Paaren. Special Issue of Gender Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft, 2, 37–56.
ILO—International Labour Organization. (2013). Domestic workers across the world. Global and regional statistics and the extent of legal protection. Retrieved January 17, 2013, from http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_173363.pdf
Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft Köln (IWK). (2009). Arbeitsplatz Privathaushalt. Ein Weg aus der Schwarzarbeit. Pressekonferenz, Berlin, February 24. Retrieved May 24, 2012, from http://tinyurl.com/ckfn4hr
Kalwa, D. (2007). “So wie zu Hause”. Die private Sphäre als Arbeitsplatz. In M. Nowicka (Ed.), Von Polen nach Deutschland und zurück. Die Arbeitsmigration und ihre Herausforderungen für Europa (pp. 205–226). Bielefeld: Transcript.
Kilkey, M., & Palenga-Möllenbeck, E. (2013). Fathers’ time-bind and the outsourcing of “male” domestic work in Europe: The cases of UK and Germany. Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy, 29(2), 109–121.
Kilkey, M., & Perrons, D. (2010). Gendered divisions in domestic-work time: The rise of he (migrant) handyman phenomenon. Time and Society, 19(1), 1–26.
Kilkey, M., Perrons, D., & Plomien, A. (2013). Masculinities, male labour and fathering in the UK and USA. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kindler, M., & Kordasiewicz, A. (2015). Maid-of-all-work or professional nanny? The changing character of domestic work in polish households, XVIII–XXI c. In D. Hoerder, E. van Nederveen, & S. Neusinger (Eds.), Towards a global history of domestic and caregiving workers. Leiden: Brill.
Kivisto, P., & Faist, T. (2007). Citizenship: Theory, discourse and transnational prospects. Oxford: Blackwell.
Lewis, J. (2009). Work-family balance, gender and policy. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Lister, R. (2003). Citizenship. Feminist perspectives (2nd ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Lutz, H. (2011). The new maids. Transnational women and the care economy. London: Zed Books.
Lutz, H., & Palenga-Möllenbeck, E. (2012). Care work, care drain and care chains: Reflections on care, migration and citizenship. Special Issue of Social Politics, 19, 15–37.
Madianou, M., & Miller, D. (2011). Mobile phone parenting: Reconfiguring relationships between Filipina migrant mothers and their left-behind children. New Media & Society, 13, 457–470.
Marshall, T. H. (1964). Class, citizenship and social development. Garden City and New York: Doubleday.
Meuser, M. (2010). Geschlecht, Macht, Männlichkeit—Strukturwandel von Erwerbsarbeit und hegemonialer Männlichkeit. Erwägen, Wissen, Ethik (EWE), 21(3), 325–336.
Meuser, M. (2014). Care und Männlichkeit in modernen Gesellschaften—Grundlegende Überlegungen illustriert am Beispiel involvierter Vaterschaft. Special Issue of Soziale Welt, 20, 159–174.
Minssen, H. (2006). Arbeits- und Industriesoziologie. Eine Einführung. Frankfurt and New York: Campus Verlag.
Miranda, V. (2011). Cooking, caring and volunteering: Unpaid work around the world, OECD social, employment and migration. Working Papers 116. Retrieved September 27, 2012, from http://www.oecd.org/els/workingpapers
Myant, M., & Drahokoupil, J. (2011). Transition economies: Political economy in Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons.
Nail, G. (2004). Transformation of the welfare state: The silent surrender of public responsibility. New York: Oxford University Press.
Näre, L. M. (2010). Sri Lankan men working as cleaners and carers: Negotiating masculinity in Naples. Men and Masculinities, 13(1), 65–86.
Paap, K. (2006). Working construction: Why white working-class men put themselves—And the labor movement—In harm’s way. Ithaca, NY and London: Cornell University Press.
Palenga-Möllenbeck, E. (2013a). New maids—New butlers? Polish domestic workers in Germany and commodification of social reproductive work. In B. Aulenbacher & C. Innreiter-Moser (Eds.), Making the difference—Critical perspectives on the configuration of work, diversity and inequalities. Special issue of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 32(6), 557–574.
Palenga-Möllenbeck, E. (2013b). Care chains in Eastern and Central Europe: Male and female domestic work at intersections of gender, class and ethnicity. In A. Triandafyllidou & S. Marchetti (Eds.), Migrant domestic and care workers in Europe: New patterns of circulation? Special issue of Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies, 11(4), 364–383.
Palenga-Möllenbeck, E. (2014). Pendelmigration aus Oberschlesien. Lebensgeschichten in einer transnationalen Region Europas. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag.
Palenga-Möllenbeck, E., & Lutz, H. (2016, forthcoming). Fatherhood and masculinities in post socialist Europe: The challenges of transnational migration. In M. Kilkey & E. Palenga-Möllenbeck (Eds.), Family life in an age of migration and mobility: Global perspectives through the life course. Houndsmills, Basinstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Plomien, A. (2009). Welfare state, gender, and reconciliation of work and family in Poland. Policy developments and practice in a new EU member. Social Policy & Administration, 43, 136–151.
Plummer, K. (2003). Intimate citizenship: Private decisions and public dialogues. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Portet, S. (2007). Elastyczność zatrudnienia w Polsce, czyli o odkrywaniu rzeczy zakrytych. In M. Marody (Ed.), Wymiary życia społecznego. Polska na przełomie XX und XXI wieku (pp. 116–137). Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar.
Rottenberg, C. (2014). The rise of neoliberal feminism. Cultural Studies, 28(3), 418–437.
Sarti, R. and Scrinzi, F. (2010). Men in women’s job, male domestic workers, international migration and the globalisation of care. Special issue of Men and Masculinities, 13 (4).
Sassen, S. (2001). The global city. New York, London, Tokyo. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Schupp, J., Spieß, C. K., & Wagner, G. G. (2006). Beschäftigungspotenziale in privaten Haushalten nicht überschätzen: Förderung und Ausbau familienbezogener Dienste sollte nicht in erster Linie ein arbeitsmarktpolitisches Instrument sein. In Wochenbericht des DIW Berlin, 4/2006 (pp. 45–52). Retrieved September 29, 2012, from http://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/43982/06-4-1.pdf
Sikorska, M. (Ed.) (2009). Być rodzicem we współczesnej Polsce. Nowe wzory w konfrontacji z rzeczywistością. Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego.
Soysal, Y. N. (1994). Limits of citizenship: Migrants and postnational membership in Europe. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Sullivan, O., Coltrane, S., Mc Annally, L., & Altintas, E. (2009). Father-friendly policies and time-use data in a cross-national context: Potential and prospects for future research. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 624(1), 234–254.
Szelewa, D., & Polakowski, M. P. (2008). Who cares? Changing patterns of childcare in Central and Eastern Europe. Journal of European Social Policy, 18(2), 115–131.
Traba, L. (2008). Haushaltsnahe Dienstleistungen in Hessen. Modul 1: Empirische Ermittlung des Bedarfs an haushaltsnahen Dienstleistungen. Report No. 721. Wiesbaden: Hessen Agentur.
Triandafyllidou, A., & Marchetti, S. (Eds.) (2015). Employers, agencies and immigration: Paying for care. Surrey: Ashgate.
Van Walsum, S. (2013). Labour, legality and shifts in the public/private divide. International Migration, 51(6), 86–100.
Wetterer, A. (2005). Rhetorische Modernisierung und institutionelle Reflexivität: Die Diskrepanz zwischen Alltagswissen und Alltagspraxis in arbeitsteiligen Geschlechterarrangements. Freiburger Frauenstudien. Zeitschrift für Interdisziplinäre Geschlechterforschung, Arbeit und Geschlecht, 11(16), 75–96.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Palenga-Möllenbeck, E. (2016). Unequal Fatherhoods: Citizenship, Gender, and Masculinities in Outsourced ‘Male’ Domestic Work. In: Gullikstad, B., Kristensen, G., Ringrose, P. (eds) Paid Migrant Domestic Labour in a Changing Europe. Citizenship, Gender and Diversity. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51742-5_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51742-5_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-51741-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-51742-5
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)