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This paper discusses the impact of foreign domestic workers (FDWs) on parental roles and family dynamics of Hong Kong's middle class families. The increase in married women's labor force participation in Hong Kong has led to a greater demand for childcare, which has been filled by FDWs. Based on interviews with 15 dual-earner couples in middle class nuclear families employing FDWs, how FDWs affect the mother's gender role and family dynamics is discussed. Boundary work is used by parents in their daily interaction with their children and their FDWs so as to reconcile the perceived indispensability of these workers on the one hand, and the challenges they pose to the definition of parenthood on the other. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
Live-in Foreign Domestic Workers and their Impact
on Hong Kongs Middle Class FamiliesAnnie Hau-nung ChanLingnan UniversityABSTRACT: This paper discusses the impact of foreign domestic workers (FDWs) on
parental roles and family dynamics of Hong Kongs middle class families. The increase in
married womens labor force participation in Hong Kong has led to a greater demand for
childcare, which has been filled by FDWs. Based on interviews with 15 dual-earner
couples in middle class nuclear families employing FDWs, how FDWs affect the mothers
gender role and family dynamics is discussed. Boundary work is used by parents in their
daily interaction with their children and their FDWs so as to reconcile the perceived
indispensability of these workers on the one hand, and the challenges they pose to the
definition of parenthood on the other.KEY WORDS: family dynamics; Hong Kong; middle-class families; paid domestic
workers; parental roles.This paper examines the impact of foreign domestic workers (FDWs)
on parental roles and family dynamics in contemporary Hong Kong
middle class families. Employing domestic workers is not a new phenomenon in Hong Kong, but since the late 1980s a new form of domestic
workersthe FDWhas grown in considerable numbers. What are the
possible ramifications of a growing proportion of families having FDWs?
In what ways do they affect their employers parental roles and family
dynamics? These are the questions I address in my analysis of interviews with 15 middle class dual-earner couples who employ FDWs.Paid Domestic Work and Female EmploymentThe need for paid domestic workers depends on factors such as demand for female labor, female educational attainment and changes inAnnie Hau-nung Chan, Department of Politics and Sociology, Lingnan University,
Tuen Mun, N.T., Hong Kong; e-mail: [email protected] research was funded by a Lingnan University Social Sciences Program Research
Grant RES/SOC010/978. I am grateful to the guest editors and two anonymous
reviewers for their valuable comments.Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Vol. 26(4), Winter 2005 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 509DOI: 10.1007/s10834-005-7847-4510 Journal of Family and Economic Issuessocial norms regarding gender roles (Hakim, 2000). In most societies,
the division of domestic labor is predominantly along gender lines, and
the need to find substitutes for married womens domestic labor increases as they enter paid work. Early modernization theories have
predicted that societys demand for paid domestic workers will decrease with modernization (Coser, 1973), but this has not happened.
Recent research suggests that it is a societys level of income
inequality rather than level of modernization that determines the size
of its paid domestic work force (Milkman, Reese, & Roth, 1998).
However, this explanation overlooks the fact that a growing number of
societies have labor importation or immigration policies specifically
designed for workers from less developed countries to enter as
domestic workers. An extensive literature on the political economy of
migrant domestic workers within the context of the global economy
has developed to address this issue (see e.g., Anderson, 2000;
Lindio-McGovern, 2001).In Hong Kong, rapid post-war economic growth and the rise in
female educational attainment have led to a steady rise in womens
participation in the work force. Hong Kongs overall female labor force
participation rate (LFPR) has increased from 49.5% in 1981 to 51.6%
in 2001; over the same period, never married womens LFPR has
dropped slightly from 68.1% to 67.9%, while that for married women
witnessed the greatest increase, from 43.1% to 48.9% (Hong Kong
Census & Statistics Department, 1981, 2002). The general view is that
the growing number of FDWs and the rise in womens educational
attainment have played an important role in enabling more married
women to enter paid work (Suen, 1994). FDWs were first brought in by
expatriates who had relocated to Hong Kong from nearby Southeast
Asian countries during the early 1980s. Entrepreneurs quickly spotted
a market niche and started importing FDWs into Hong Kong systematically. In March 2001, there were over 222,000 FDWs in Hong
Kong, of whom nearly 70% were from the Philippines, followed by
those from Indonesia and Thailand (Director of Immigration, 2001).
Compared to other receiving countries of FDWs, Hong Kongs policy
regarding these workers is considered comprehensive and benevolent
(Cheng, 1996; Chin, 1998). Hong Kongs FDWs are entitled to a minimum wage and are protected under the Employment Ordinance and
the Standard Contract for the Employment of a Foreign Domestic
Helper. There is as yet no upper limit for the number of such workers
in Hong Kong at any one time; as long as employers and employees
fulfill the requisite conditions, they are free to enter into employment
contracts.Annie Hau-nung Chan 511The proportion of Hong Kong households employing FDWs has more
than tripled from 3.6% in 1987 to 10% in 2000 (Hong Kong Census &
Statistics Department, 2001). Households employing FDWs are predominantly small nuclear families with above average incomes. In
2000, 32% of all households with a monthly income of over HKD50,000
(around USD 6,410) employ at least one FDW (Hong Kong Census &
Statistics Department, 2001). Most FDWs are responsible for multiple
tasks, and over 80% of households employing these workers consist of
either elderly people aged over 65 or children under 12, 10% of which
consist of both (Hong Kong Census & Statistics Department, 1987,
1991, 1996, 2001). From these figures, we can see that a substantial
proportion of higher income families employ FDWs to take up housework and caring duties. Because employers need to meet a minimum
household income requirement and all FDWs have to be live-ins, it is
predominantly middle class families, understood as families with
above average incomes and those in service class occupations
(Goldthorpe, 1987), that form the bulk of FDW employers; it is for this
reason that this paper focuses on middle class families.1The dramatic increase in the number of FDWs has to do with the
fact that state provision of childcare is extremely limited and carries a
negative stigma (Wong, 1992).2 Surveys have shown that Hong Kong
people are fairly traditional when it comes to core family values such
as attitudes towards pre-marital sex, divorce, marriage, children and
social support from kin. Even though more women are in paid work,
their familial role is still largely that of the caregiver (Lee, 1991, 1995).
Mothers who return to the labor market after childbirth either choose
work that can accommodate their domestic obligations, or arrange for
their children to be cared for by close kin. Since the late 1980s, however, FDWs have become popular as a childcare alternative, and are
now considered indispensable for middle class women who wish to
re-enter paid work after childbirth. What then are FDWs impact on
middle class families? How are they likely to differ from previous
generations of domestic workers in their effects on host families?Paid Domestic Workers: Whats New?Domestic servants (e.g. miu-tsai and amah) have always existed in
China and Hong Kong, and understanding how they differ from FDWs
is important for analyzing the latters impact on Hong Kong families.3
Firstly, FDWs status as employees is more formal than mui-tsai and
amah because they are protected by labor ordinances and a minimum512 Journal of Family and Economic Issueswage. Secondly, many middle class families can now afford FDWs
because of their relatively low wages, whereas earlier generations of
domestic workers were common amongst rich families only. Thirdly,
FDWs embody characteristics of both mui-tsai and amahs. Like the
amah, they are independent workers; like mui-tsai, they are regarded
as socially inferior (Constable, 1997; Pratt, 1997; Stiell & England,
1997). Finally, FDWs are mostly employed by families where mothers
are in paid work, whereas in previous generations, mothers spent time
saved from having to do routine and hard housework on the supervision and organization of the mui-tsai or amah, and on other activities which contribute to the social reproduction of the family, such as
attending to the emotional needs of the family and transmitting cultural capital to the next generation (Gaw, 1991). These differences are
important for us to understand the effects FDWs have on middle class
families.Because of the decreasing popularity of the extended family, many
dual-earner families are having difficulties to cope with the demands
of paid work and childcare. Nowadays many Hong Kong children
spend much more time with their FDWs than with their parents, and
many tasks and responsibilities, which were traditionally regarded as
the mothers duties are now undertaken by FDWs. Many FDWs are
responsible for taking the children to after-school classes, eating with
them at McDonalds, taking them to the park, watching TV with them,
and playing games and reading stories with them. FDWs (in particular those who come from the Philippines) also act as tutors, playmates, and confidants for the children in their care, thereby engaging
in emotional as well as physical labor. Consequently many children
develop a strong bond with their FDWs. The intimate relationship
between children and FDWs could potentially cause jealousy in the
parents, especially in the mother.Older generations of mothers who had mui-tsai and amah at home
were much less likely to be in paid work, and so compared to todays
working mothers with FDWs, they were typically more involved with
the disciplining and caring of their children. This difference raises the
question as to how employers perceive FDWs roles in their families.
To what extent have FDWs taken up parenting tasks? How have
parental roles, particularly that of the mothers, changed? How do
FDWs affect family dynamics and parentchild relationships? The
existing literature on FDWs in Hong Kong is mostly concerned with
the employment relations and social adaptation of these workers, but
not many studies focus on the role of these workers in their host
families (Chang & Groves, 2000; Cheung & Mok, 1998; French & Lam,Annie Hau-nung Chan 5131988; Groves & Chang, 1999; Ozeki, 1995; Suen, 1994). To understand
their roles, in 2002, I interviewed 15 middle class dual-earner couples
that employ FDWs. These couples were selected based on personal
referrals and the snow-ball sampling method. All my respondents
were in full-time paid work, and had at least one child under the age of15. A summary of their profiles can be found in Table 1.
Couples were interviewed both separately and together, based on a
semi-structured, open-ended interview schedule. Individual interviews lasted on average an hour each, and interviews where both
husbands and wives were present lasted on average around an hour
and a half. Interviews were tape recorded, transcribed, translated into
English and then coded.Perceived Role of FDWs in the Family and Definitions
of Good ParentingWhen asked about the role FDWs played in their families, there was
unanimous agreement from my respondents that FDWs were indispensable to how their families function. As mentioned earlier, the
division of domestic work in Hong Kong families is predominately
along traditional lines, with wives doing a greater share than husbands, regardless of whether or not wives are in paid work (Choi &
Lee, 1997; Chu & Leung, 1995; Chu, 1997). FDWs, therefore, took up
much of the domestic chores, which would otherwise have landed on
the shoulders of wives. Wives, and to a lesser extent their husbands,
expressed that they could not imagine family life without a FDW.
Respondent 6 W (6 W stands for couple number 6, wife; 6 H stands for
the husband), who is quoted below, made it clear that the availability
and affordability of FDWs played a major role in their decision to have
children. As nuclear families have become the norm, it is not always
easy to turn to close kin for childcare help. Furthermore, as couples
delay marriage and childbirth, the age gap between grandparents and
grandchildren increases accordingly, making it more difficult to rely
on parents or in-laws for such help. In most cases the decision to hire
FDWs was jointly made between the couple:If it is not so common to hire a maid in Hong Kong, we would not have
children. How can we manage without an affordable maid? It is impossible. My parents have emigrated and I dont have many relatives in
Hong Kong. My husbands parents are really old. They cannot help us
with childcare. Surely I cannot leave my baby at a childminders home
while I go to work? (Why not?) There are no regulations to govern514 Journal of Family and Economic IssuesTABLE 1Profile of IntervieweesCouple Occupation Age Children (age)FDW employed
for (years)1 W* Secretary 36 Daughter (6) 6
1 H* Social worker 352 W Sales supervisor 36 Son (7), daughter (5) 8
2 H Advertisingexecutive
423 W Systems Analyst 45 Son (14), son (11), daughter (8) 12
3 H Systems Analyst 484 W Merchandiser 29 Daughter (1.5) 2
4 H Engineer 385 W Registerednurse
39 Son (11), daughter (6) 115 H Company
director
4338 Son (5) 56 H Insurance agent 44
7 W Teacher 42 Daughter (12) son (10) 10
7 H Teacher 428 W Administrator 33 Son (3) 3
8 H Engineer 419 W Secretary 36 Daughter (12), son (10) 11
9 H Accountant 4410 W Beautician 38 Daughter (4) 4
10 H Restaurantmanager
406 W Company
manager11 W Secretary 36 Daughter (6), daughter (2) 4
11 H Publishingmanager
3912 W Catering
manager31 Son (3.5) 412 H Solicitor 37
13 W Customerserviceexecutive
28 Son (2) 213 H Operations
manager
3314 W Kindergarten
teacher
29 Daughter (4) 414 H Sales
supervisor
3415 W Civil servant 40 Son (13), daughter (8) 10
15 H Civil servant 39*W = wife, H = husband.Annie Hau-nung Chan 515childminders in Hong Kong! Impossible. It wont work. (6 W, trading
company manager, aged 38 with a 5-year-old son)Even though the supply of FDWs is plentiful, it was not easy to change
maids as both employers and their children grew increasingly
dependent on their services:Its so hard to find a good maid I really had to struggle when we
fired our previous maid last year. She was getting really bad. The collection agencies were calling our home all the time and her work was
really poor . But she was really close to my daughter. Even she said
it herself, that she loves my daughter more than her own daughter in
the Philippines. At the time I thought that, if I fire her, what if I cant
find another good maid? And my daughter would be so upset. It was
a very difficult decision. (7 W, teacher, aged 42 with a 12-year-old
daughter and a 10-year-old son)Husbands are also aware of the indispensability of FDWs, even though
they themselves would not have been the main persons responsible for
childcare in the family were there no paid domestic help. As has been
found in Gregson and Lowes study on the function of nannies in
Britain (Gregson & Lowe, 1994), FDWs play an important role in dualearner families not only because they allow the wives to work, but also
because they take up chores and therefore allow couples to spend time
with one another, contributing to a better marital relationship. The
same could be found with my respondents:Before we had children, we did not have a maid. We shared the housework; we ate out a lot, not much cooking or washing up. But you cant afford not to have a maid after you have a baby. Its so much work taking
care of a baby my wife will not consider not working My wife was
lucky to be able to take 2 months maternity leave, but I wouldnt want
her to take care of the baby all by herself during that time. With a maid,
she can relax and rest and we can go out and spend time with one another, or go out for dinner. (8 H, engineer, aged 41 with a 3-year-old son)Apart from enabling couples to spend quality time with one another,
FDWs also act as a buffer for negative emotions that arise out of dayto-day domestic life:My wife gets angry with our maid sometimes. She will scold her But
this is better than her getting angry with the children or me! She lets
out her steam a bit with the maid She (the maid) is the employee, so
of course she has to do what her boss says. If there is no maid, she will
be scolding me and the children (laugh)! (9 H, accountant, aged 44
with a 12-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son)516 Journal of Family and Economic IssuesDespite the indispensability of FDWs, parents were reluctant to let
FDWs take up certain childcare and parenting roles. Leaving childcare in the hands of FDWs is not a preferred option by most Hong
Kong families (Tam, 2001), and this is reflected by the fact that certain
tasks were not trusted with FDWs, particularly when it comes to the
caring of infants and tasks which require higher levels of dedication
and attention. Specifically, parents wanted to be present at occasions
where they were expected to be proud of their children (such as when
their children gave a public performance or received awards), even if
that means they had to take time off work:Its not so good to ask the maid to go to the graduation performance,
even though some parents do that but I dont think that is very good.
How will your child feel? She will feel that I dont care about her. The
teachers will think I dont care about her. It is important for parents
to try to show some concerns, otherwise the impression is not good.
Sometimes I have to work late and it is more convenient to ask the
maid to go, but whats the point of asking the maid to go? She will not
enjoy the performance. Id rather take time off work to go myself.
(7 W, teacher, aged 42 with a12-year-old daughter and a 10year-old
son)A childs primary graduation performance is obviously a once-in-alifetime event, and it is therefore reasonable that the mother would
not want the FDW to go in her place. However, what is interesting is
that the respondent talked not so much about how she, as the mother,
would like to be present, but how the child and the teachers might
think of her if she did not go. It seems as if she felt compelled to act
according to expectations regarding her role as a parent. Social norms
regarding good parenting obviously play a role in shaping which are
the tasks that parents consider as suitable to be delegated to FDWs.
The following respondent took pride in saying that although it was
their maid who slept with their daughter in the same bed, she reserved the more important task of story time for herself:I always read my baby a bedtime story, even though it is my maid
who sleeps with her. (10 W, beautician, aged 38 with a 4-year-old-
daughter)In all but five families interviewed, FDWs slept either in the same bed
or shared a room with at least one of the children. Most flats in Hong
Kong are small and this type of sleeping arrangement is common. This
further increases the physical closeness between FDWs and the children in their care and, as a result, exacerbates the need felt by someAnnie Hau-nung Chan 517parents to engage in the kind of boundary work whereby they rationalize the tasks they do as more important than those done by their
FDWs.Respondents were clear that some tasks were not to be delegated to
FDWs either because that would challenge their roles as parents or
FDWs could not be trusted to do certain jobs well enough. The following respondent gave the FDWs carelessness as a reason why the
expensive ingredients for a special meal needed to be handled by
herself:You cannot leave everything to the maid. Maids are very careless and
absentminded They say yes mam but they dont remember what
you said to them. For the important tasks, you must do them yourself For example, when my family comes for dinner, I do the cooking
myself. She doesnt know how to cook these expensive ingredients like
abalone properly. (11 W, secretary, aged 36 with two daughters aged 6
and 2)Respondents had clear boundaries regarding tasks that could be delegated to FDWs without compromising their role as good parents,
and those that could only be done by themselves. Parents mentioned a
number of tasks or activities which were deemed suitable to be delegated to FDWs, including feeding, cleaning, dropping off and picking
up children from school or extra-curricular activities, playing games
and watching TV together, chatting, and attending other childrens
birthday parties. Parents retained for themselves tasks which they
regard as lying at the core of their relationship with their children,
and those which symbolize their status as parents or as household
heads. As seen earlier, going to a childs school performance, quality
bedtime story reading, and cooking up an impressive meal at family
gatherings are tasks which mark the role of a good parent. Other tasks
mentioned by respondents include visiting the doctor, shopping for
new clothes, supervision of computer usage, supervision of packing of
school bags and homework.Mothers were much more likely than fathers to be jealous of the
close relationship between their children and the FDWs. Fathers came
across as more confident that their roles as parents were not challenged by FDWs, and few felt the need to explain why this was so. On
the contrary, mothers were much more eager to explain to me the
differences between the more important parenting tasks that they do
as compared to the less important, routine caring tasks taken up by
their FDWs. This may be an indication of the greater anxiety mothers
experienced when talking about the possibility of their parental roles518 Journal of Family and Economic Issuesbeing taken over by FDWs. This is not entirely surprising since FDWs
were substituting the mothers parental role (that of main carer), not
the fathers (that of breadwinner). The anxiety felt by mothers was
also evident from the fact that some respondents had been criticized by
family and friends because of their relatively low level of involvement
in their childrens day-to-day lives. Such social pressure was exclusively directed towards mothers, who were frustrated by the lack of
understanding from outsiders:Some of my relatives dont have to work themselves, so they think I
am not a very good mother because they think I dont spend much
time with my daughter. But they dont work. They are not me. Their
husbands make more money so they dont need to work. They can stay
at home and put all their time and efforts on their children, take them
to classes, follow their homework I have no choice. One income is
not enough in our family. (What if your husbands income is large enough?) Actually, I like to work, maybe part-time, but I dont want to
be just a full-time housewife. Having a maid has its problems but
without a maid, its really a big problem. (11 W, secretary, aged 36
with two daughters, aged 6 and 2)Mothers used financial necessity and preference for work life to justify
their reliance on FDWs, while fathers had no need to justify anything
because neither they themselves nor society regard childcare as a
main part of their parental duties; the FDW problem is therefore the
wives, not the husbands. Generally, respondents stressed that even
though they spend less time with their children than their FDWs did,
there was a qualitative difference in terms of the kind of parenting
tasks they did and those taken up by FDWs. There is evidence again of
boundary work at play:We may not spend that much time each day with our children, but at
the weekend we do a lot of things with them, like going to the library
and going to the countryside They know that the maid is just to take
care of their everyday needs, of course the maid is no substitute for
parents, and our maid does not know how to teach them No maid
knows how to teach their employers children. They are just there to
do the work like cooking and cleaning, picking up and dropping off.
Values and how to be a good person. Important things must be left to
us, the parents, to do ourselves. (3 W, analyst, aged 45 with two sons
aged 14 and 11, and an 8-year-old daughter)The above respondents husband agreed with his wife and believed
that their children could distinguish different levels of parenting. He
believed that it is the parents who have authority and respect, andAnnie Hau-nung Chan 519these stem from being tough with the children, not from spoiling them
the way FDWs do:The children are not stupid. They know. They are smarter than you.
Some kids are attached to their helpers because their helpers spoil
them. They just give the kids whatever they ask for, and then of
course the kids like to be with them. Parents are not like that. I dont
spoil my children. I may spend very little time with my children,
maybe even less than my wife, but I am still authoritative. I am the
head of the family and they all respect me. (3 H, analyst, aged 48, with
two sons aged 14 and 11 , and an 8-year-old daughter).These parents attitudes demonstrate the changing roles of middle
class parenthood. As the average number of children in families
diminishes, there is growing concern about the quality of childhood
experiences and, as a result, there is also increasing emphasis on good
parenting (Wyness, 1997). The definition of a good parent is no
longer confined to provisions and routine maintenance, and our
respondents clearly believed that more time spent with ones children
does not necessarily equate with good parenting. So long as parents
are there for the important tasks, i.e., the ones which define modern
middle class parenthood, the role of a good parent is achieved.The boundary work of demarcating between important and
unimportant parenting tasks is a common strategy used in the
maintenance of the FDW employeremployee relationships. Studies
have shown how employers and domestic workers use different
strategies to maintain the necessary symbolic, social, as well as
physical distance between one another in the family household (Lan,
2003). Similarly, such boundary work was also used by the respondents; a distinction between real family and like family was
stressed by the following employer:We hired our maid a month before our son was born, and this is her
first job as a maid... she has been with us for nearly 12 years. We treat
her like family. We eat at the same table, and when we go out we
bring her as well. When we go on holiday we bring her also. It is a
two-way relationship. We treat her well and she does her work well.
She knows many things about our family, and we know many things
about her family too. We talk, like friends do. But not like real friends
or like real family, of course, she is still a maid. You have to maintain
the bossmaid relationship. Real family relationship does not include
the maid. She might resign or we might fire her any day. (5W, nurse,
aged 39 with an 11-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter)520 Journal of Family and Economic IssuesThe formal employee status of FDWs was stressed by the above
respondent; although she described her family as very close with their
FDW, she was also aware that this relationship could be dissolved at
any time since it was based on an employment contract. The temporality of the employment contract is an important factor, which shapes
how host families and FDWs perceive their relationships with one
another. No matter how intimately the FDW is involved with the lives
of the family, regardless of her devotion to the children in her care and
the extent to which employers treat her like family, the fact remains
that their relationship is based on contractual, and not traditionally
defined, familial terms. Although FDWs were seen as indispensable,
they were also regarded as socially inferior, and descriptions such as
stupid like a pig, lazy, day dreaming all the time and cunning
had been used by the respondents to describe FDWs. Employers
associated these negative perceptions with race and class, and they
played an important role in shaping family dynamics.Family DynamicsThe rise in the demand for FDWs is a response to the strain faced by
dual-earner families, which cannot cope with the demands of childcare
without external help (Arat-Koc, 1989; Ng, 1989). The employment of
FDWs reduces some of this strain, but also adds on new ones. The
ambiguous status of FDWs as like but not quite family leads both
employers and employees to use boundary work in their attempts to
reconcile the contradictions inherent in their employment relationships. Such boundary work affects family dynamics in several ways.
For instance, mothers could get jealous of the intimacy between children and FDWs, which results in their lack of trust and even resentment towards the FDWs. As a result, the family is even less of a
private and secure sphere than it could have been.Studies have found that race and class differences often inhibit the
development of close personal relationships between employers and
employees (Kousha, 1999). However, young children are less likely to
be affected by the race and class divisions that adults use, and thus,
they are more likely to develop a close relationship with the FDWs.
The following respondent described the ambivalence she felt towards
her childrens relationship with their maid:On the one hand, you have to trust them; on the other hand, you cant
trust them too much. My daughter is very close with our maid. ThereAnnie Hau-nung Chan 521are many things she will tell her but not meThey share many
secrets. (How do you feel about that?) I dont think that is so good. I
am her mother and she should feel comfortable telling me her secrets,
not to the maid. Of course, I wish she will confide in me instead of
her, but I dont want my maid to know I am jealous of her, because
that means she has a hold on me. (15 W, civil servant, aged 40 with a
13-year-old son and an 8-year-old daughter)Even though amah were also known to develop strong bonds with
the children in their care, because mothers of previous generations
seldom work outside the home, mothers jealousy towards amah may
be less of an issue. In addition, emotional distance between parents
and children was commonly accepted, because it was seen as necessary for maintaining childrens respect towards parental authority. In
todays families, however, jealousy is a real issue for many parents,
and the following respondent described how his wife was jealous of a
former FDWs relationship with their son:When our son was in kindergarten, our maid then really loved him
very much. We got her when our son was around 12 months old.
Before that, my wife looked after him at home. [The maid] treated him
like his own son. She has her own children also, but she was with my
son day after day. She even said it herself, she felt closer to our son
than to her own children. My wife was quite unhappy about that and
she didnt like it very much. Our son was calling the maid ti ma,
meaning auntie and ma ma, my wife was not happy about that at
all. Many other things happened too its a long story. Eventually we
did not renew her contract, even though she was a good worker, and
my wife quit her job for 1 year to look after him herself. Its only when
our daughter was born that we got a maid again and my wife resumed
work. This time we got an Indonesian rather than a Filipino. My wife
said Filipinas are more cunning and Indonesians are more stupid and
they are less likely to get on so well with the kids. (5 H, company
director, aged 43 with an 11-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter)The above respondent did not mention his own feelings of jealousy at
all. When I prompted him, he replied that he did not feel jealous,
possibly because emotional closeness between the FDW and his child
poses little challenge to his primary parental role, which is that of a
breadwinner rather than a caregiver.Most FDWs only get to see their families once every 2 years and it is
therefore not unusual that some of them may project their emotional
needs for family life onto their host families. Just as young children
are less susceptible to see FDWs in class/racial terms, FDWs tend to
see children as just children rather than as employers. Because of522 Journal of Family and Economic Issuesthis, FDWs may feel closer to the children in their care than to their
employers. This discrepancy (i.e., closeness with the children but
emotionally distant from the adults) contributes to new dynamics
within the family household.Apart from mothers jealousy over FDWs relationships with their
children, sexual tension and suspicions also arise in some of these
families and affect family dynamics. The following respondent
recounted an unhappy episode with her first maid:We fired the first maid after 2 months. I was still pregnant when she
arrived. My friends told me I should choose a young maid, because
shell have to take care of the baby, get up at night to feed the baby,
so you cant get someone old, 40 years old or something. This one was
21 years old, not beautiful but not bad looking. At first she was okay,
behaved very well and listened to my instructions after a couple of
weeks, she started strutting around wearing tank tops and tight
shorts. It was really inappropriate. It was summer but we have aircon! My husband would be sitting there watching TV and she would
strut around baring her arms and legs and half her chest exposed. I
told her to dress appropriately, but she answered back, and then
started spreading gossip about me amongst the other maids. I had a
big fight with her. I told her she dressed like those girls in Wanchai
bars. It was my decision to fire her. My husband thought I over-reacted, but he didnt dare keep her (12 W, catering manager, aged 31
with a 3.5-year-old son).Feeling threatened by the FDWs sexuality, the above respondent
developed distrust towards the FDW as well as her husband. Below is
the husbands version of events:I know my wife prefers an ugly maid, but whether ugly or not, it is
very subjective. She doesnt like them to wear sleeveless or low-cut
tops. She insists on buying casual clothes for them to wear at home.
Baggy t-shirts (laugh)! It is a bit extreme but it keeps her mind at
ease Yes! She fired our first maid after only about 2 months. She
thinks the maid was trying to seduce me. Maybe its the pregnancy
and all those hormones. She was really suspicious accusing me of looking at the maid. It was inconvenient, I had to look away; when she
was in the living room I hid in the bedroom. When she was in the
kitchen I never went in. She was just a young girl, so of course she
wanted to look good. Thats very normal. But never mind, as long as it
keeps my wife happy. I dont want her to go crazy. Our maid now is
old, and ugly, and my wife is happy. How would I be interested in a
maid! I have no interest in Filipinas. But my wife doesnt think rationally. (12 H, solicitor, aged 37 with a 3.5-year-old son)Annie Hau-nung Chan 523Sexual attraction was dismissed by the husband as impossible, given
the FDWs subservient status as a maid and her race. Even when
sexual tension was not an issue, some respondents mentioned how
their daily interaction at home had been subtly altered with the
presence of a FDW, as illustrated by the following quote:It is not so free, you cant always say everything you want to one another, because you dont know how much she understands. You cant
let them know too many things. They are very cunning. You read all
these stories in the newspapers. Even if they have worked for you for
a long time, you dont know when they will turn against you. Her Cantonese is good enough to shop in the wet market, and she has worked
in Hong Kong for 5 years already. (4 W, merchandiser, aged 29 with a1.5-year-old daughter)Having a stranger in ones home raises all kinds of issues, particularly
that of privacy and security. For employers who have little trust in
their FDWs, the home and its contents are no longer safe. Suspicion
towards FDWs is very common, with FDWs telephone usage and petty
theft being the most common complaints:Sometimes I thought, where was that twenty-dollar note that I put on
the table this morning? Where was that packet of biscuits that was
opened last week? She said my girl ate it all. How could that be? I
have no proof that she has taken them, but since we got this maid,
things have been disappearing. Some people keep a record of all their
things. I want to also, but I have no time. She seems to be always on
the phone. I want to check her phone use also but I dont have so
much time. (1 W, secretary, aged 36 with a 6-year-old daughter)One of my friends caught her maid stealing their rice. These people,
they will steal anything I have a log book that I used to keep a record of groceries, clothes, CDs Not all employers do that, and Im not
saying she is a thief. I just want to be careful. (13 W, customer service
executive, aged 28 with a 2-year-old son)The presence of FDWs led to anxiety and insecurity for employers and
also negatively affected their ability to freely express their emotions
and affection. This is particularly noticeable for couples who have only
had FDWs in their homes for a relatively short period of time. They
had a more recent memory of how things used to be before having a
FDW:[The interaction between me and my husband] has been a bit different,
that has to do with having our girl. With a baby, the family is different. Its not just you and your husband. Having a maid makes it even524 Journal of Family and Economic Issuesmore different. We used to be more carefree. With the maid here, you
cant always do what you want, because she is after all an outsider.
(4 W, merchandiser, aged 29 with a 1.5-year-old daughter)I talk more carefully to my kids when the maid is around. I have to
set a good example for her to follow. I try not to scold my children, because I dont want her to scold them. (7 H, teacher, aged 42, with a
12-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son)The quotes from the above respondents show that their homes have
become less of a private, intimate space shared exclusively by family
members. Respondents felt as if they were being watched, and their
behaviors and actions in the home had become performances that
required management. With the presence of a FDW, managing childrens behaviors also becomes much more complicated:My daughter behaves very differently when she is just with the maid.
If my husband and I are at home also, she is completely different. My
maid said she is much better behaved when we are not at home. It
makes me feel a bit bad because we both work, we dont spend that
much time with her. Whenever we see her, she misbehaves to get our
attention. (10 W, beautician, aged 38 with a 4-year-old daughter)It is not easy to maintain consistency in how children are disciplined.
FDWs are the main caregivers but they do not have authority over
discipline strategies. This creates anxiety for parents regarding the
quality of parenting they are able to give:When the kids are fighting, and we are all at home, say the maid is in
the living room and I am in the bedroom, then she will try to stop
them. But when I come out I may say something different [from what
the maid said], or do something different [from what the maid did] to
stop them fighting. It is a problem, because the kids are not getting
the same message from the adults. Its hard enough to agree with your
husband on how to discipline the kids; with the maid, it is even more
difficult. (3 W, systems analyst, aged 45 with two sons aged 14 and 11
respectively and an 8-year-old daughter)So far we have looked at the various problems raised by having a FDW
as childrens main caregiver at home, and these issues demonstrate
that although FDWs indirect economic contribution to Hong Kongs
economy is significantprimarily because they allow mothers to enter
full-time paid work (Suen, 1994)their presence could also affect
family dynamics in less than desirable ways from the point of view of
their employers. As discussed earlier, wives were much more concerned about the actual work and behaviors of FDWs than husbands.Annie Hau-nung Chan 525For instance, few men expressed concern over their FDWs work
performances and whether they were stealing. Our interviews also
showed that wives were more knowledgeable about the work that their
FDWs do, and could readily provide detailed descriptions of particular
instances of interaction between themselves and the FDWs, whereas
husbands were more interested in talking about generalities such as
the pros and cons of having a maid versus having their wives in paid
work. It is obvious that wives are the main supervisors of the FDWs;
while FDWs shape family dynamics in important ways, they did little
to change the gendered nature of the division of domestic labor.ConclusionThe systematic importation of FDWs into Hong Kong, originally
intended as a policy to make up for the shortage of local domestic
workers, has evolved over the past 20 years into a policy which has
affected not only married womens employment, but also parental
roles and family dynamics. The low minimum wage for FDWs has
made it possible for married mothers to work despite minimal provision of state sponsored childcare. Unlike previous generations of
domestic workers, FDWs are increasingly taking on parental roles and
duties traditionally undertaken by mothers. Dual-earner couples
reliance upon FDWs conflicts with feelings of jealousy and sexual
tension on the part of the mothers. To resolve these anxieties,
employers use boundary work to redefine the essence of good parenting. The formality of FDWs status as contract employees, along with
class and race, are important factors which prevent the establishment
of close employeremployee relationships.A central concern in family research in Hong Kong is about the
impact of modernization and industrialization on the Chinese family,
in particular, whether or not families are becoming more symmetrical in terms of family members powers and responsibilities (Chan &
Lee, 1995; Hong, 1970; Mitchell, 1969; Wong, 1975; Young & Wilmot,
1975). Are families with FDWs more symmetrical than those without?
The answer is no. Firstly, division of household labor is still predominantly along gender lines, and both husbands and wives still regard
wives as secondary earners. Secondly, the home is no longer a private
domestic space, but has become a work place. This means that interactions within the family are no longer restricted to family members,
but have extended to that between employers and employees, which
necessarily constitute asymmetry in power and status between these526 Journal of Family and Economic Issuestwo parties. Thirdly, FDWs add a racial dimension to the dynamics
within the family and further increases the asymmetry within the
family. As the trend of married womens participation in paid work
continues, the current situation of middle class dual earner families
employing FDWs will only become even more prevalent. In this paper,
I have tried to point out important ways in which FDWs affect
parental roles and family dynamics. Further studies using ethnographic and time-budget data would be valuable in enriching our
understanding of this uniquely modern phenomenon.1. While upper class families are even more likely than middle class families to
employ FDWs, their relatively small numbers means that they are harder to
access for study. In addition, upper class families have always been able to afford servants. The uniqueness of the present situation in Hong Kong is that it
is only since the 1980s that large numbers of middle class families are able to
afford domestic workers in their homes.2. State childcare is aimed at families which are unable to take care of their children due to financial and other problems, such as domestic violence or drug
abuse.3. Prior to the 1970s, Hong Kongs female domestic workers were predominantly
mui-tsai or amah. The former were pre-pubescent girls from poor families sold
to wealthy households, who, as bonded-servants, were not paid for their work
(Watson, 1994). After much campaigning led mainly by western women and
religious orders, the amended Female Domestic Ordinance was eventually put
into force in 1929, turning mui-tsai into live-in waged workers through a compulsory registration system. The second type of domestic workers, the amah,
were women who had previously worked in the silk industry in Chinas Pearl
River delta, but had turned to domestic work as a result of the economic recession in the 1920s (Gaw, 1991). The political and economic circumstances that
had prompted these women to become domestic workers have since changed,
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