Women in Comparative Societies

Love and Gold

Based on the Chapter of the same name by Arlie Russell Hochschild in Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy. New York: Metropolitan Books

Children’s Rights

Article 9 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Child notes that child “should grow up in a family environment, in an atmosphere of happiness, love, and understanding,” and “not be separated from his or her parents against their will…”

These words are meant to guards children from the ever-growing dangers of globalism, but many parents are separated from their children

Grandmothers and aunts are often forced to take care of the children left in underdeveloped countries; of course, this rarely includes male relatives

Another solution for quickly developing countries (Hong Kong, Singapore) is to import nannies from states placed even further in destitution (Thailand, India, Sri Lanka) leading to a sort of chain of migrant nannies

The Care Drain

Mothers of poor states are now being forced to become nannies and domestic servants for wealthy ones

Consider, for example, that, “of 792,000 legal household workers in the United States 40 percent were born abroad…Of Filipino migrants, 70 percents…are women.” (Page 16, Paragraph 2)

The increasing gap in wealth only exacerbates this issue

-In 1960 the nations of the north were 20 times richer than the south

-In 1980 this gap doubled

The middle class of southern states is now poorer than the lower class of the first

The open male centered imperialism which still exists today is mirrored by a subtler imperialism featuring women

Women and Work

In order for developed countries to maintain this lifestyle more women enter the work force

- In the United States in 1950 approximately 15% of women with children age six and under held jobs

- Approximately 65% of women in similar position work today

What is problematic is that these jobs are designed for and by men

-They are not designed with family hours in mind

-Insufficient time is designated for birth, child rearing, sickness etc.

-In order to compensate, women have had to hire help

-the child care industry is largely based off this problem

The pay of migrant works is also particularly paltry

-Some suggest that this simply comes from the economic between poor and rich countries

-Douglas Massey notes that underdevelopment is not the problem but development instead

-Inequality in developed states has undervalued the importance of child-care leading to insufficient pay

-He suggests involving fathers in child care can combat such behavior by spreading costs laterally not down

-Norway, for example, offers paternity leave for approximately 90% pay

First and Third world women are players in an economic game written by men

Migration

With the economic shift, more women migrate for work than family reunification

-The average age of a female immigrant is 29

-The majority of these women have children

Children of migrant workers

-more frequently fall ill

-were more likely to feel anger confusion and apathy towards their mothers

-performed particularly poorly in school

-more likely delinquents and had increased rates of suicide

If it’s a problem, what can we do?

-Condemn global migration (blame the mother)

-Embrace global migration (it’s simply supply meeting a demand)

-Arm ourselves with knowledge about globalization and attempt to improve the situation