Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T03:49:17.544Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Singapore's Changing Demography, the Eldercare Predicament and Transnational ‘Care’ Migration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 June 2014

Brenda S.A. Yeoh  and
Shirlena Huang
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Scholars have recently argued that globalisation processes have significantly altered not just the productive but reproductive sphere. ‘Reproduction’ is formulated to include both biological and social reproduction, and which at the individual level requires ‘care’ throughout the life-cycle – that is, from cradle to grave – in sustaining the body in its corporeal and affective aspects. Concepts that have emerged in the literature in recent decades such as the ‘transnational family’, ‘global householding’ and ‘global care chain’ draw attention to the observation that the formation and sustenance of households is increasingly reliant on the international movement of people and transactions among household members residing in more than one national territory. Applying these notions to the context of the city-state of Singapore where the predicament around eldercare (resulting essentially from rapid fertility decline, shortages of Singapore women's reproductive labour and rigidities in the gender household division of labour) accompanies rapid globalisation, this paper examines strategies of care substitution which draw on the lowly paid labour of two groups of transnational subjects (mainly women) – transnational domestic workers working in the privatised sphere of the home, and transnational healthcare workers in institutionalised settings. The paper reflects upon the interdependencies between flows of transnational care migration and delves into the gender and class implications of these flows for an understanding of the links between transnational migration and social change.

Keywords

demographyeldercaretransnational migration
Type
Articles
Information
TRaNS: Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia , Volume 2 , Special Issue 2: Asia(ns) on the Move , July 2014 , pp. 247 - 269
Copyright
Copyright © Institute of East Asian Studies, Sogang University 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Asher, Mukul and Nandy, Amarendu. 2008. Singapore's policy responses to ageing, inequality and poverty: an assessment. International Social Security Review 61(1), 41–60.Google Scholar
Asis, Maruja M.B. 2002. From the life stories of Filipino women: personal and family agendas in migration. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal 11(1), 67–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chan, Angelique. 2005. Singapore's changing age structure: issues and policy implications for the family and state. In Tuljapurkar, Shripad, Pool, Ian and Prachuabmoh, Vipan (eds.), Population, Resources and Development, pp. 221–242. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chan, Angelique. 2010. “Older adults and their caregivers: characteristics and policy implications.” Paper presented at the Roundtable on Caregiving Issues, Singapore, 18 May 2010.Google Scholar
Channel News Asia . 2010, 23 February.Google Scholar
Chia, Ngee Choon, Lim, Shawna Shi'en and Chan, Angelique. 2008. Feminization of ageing and long term care financing in Singapore. SCAPE Working Paper Series, Paper No. 2008/06. Department of Economics, National University of Singapore. Avaialble at: http://nt2.fas.nus.edu.sg/ecs/pub/wp-scape/0806.pdf (accessed on 1 July 2013).Google Scholar
Chee, Heng Leng, Yeoh, Brenda S.A. and Thi Kieu Dung Vu. 2012. From client to matchmaker: social capital in the making of commercial matchmaking agents in Malaysia. Pacific Affairs 85(1), 89–114.Google Scholar
Cheng, Yi'En. 2012. Transnational masculinities in situ: Singaporean husbands and their international marriage experiences. Area 44(1), 76–82.Google Scholar
Committee on Ageing Issues (CAI). 2006. Report on the Ageing Population, Five Year Masterplan. Singapore: CAI.Google Scholar
Connell, Raewyn. 2009. Gender in World Perspective. Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Douglass, Michael. 2006. Global householding in Pacific Asia. International Development Planning Review 28(4), 421–445.Google Scholar
Gamburd, Michele R. 2000. The Kitchen Spoon's Handle: Transnationalism and Sri Lanka's Migrant Housemaids. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Gan, Kim Yong. 2012. Healthcare 2020: Improving Accessibility, Quality and Affordability for Tomorrow's Challenges (Parts 1 & 2). Speech made by the Minister of Health to the MOH 2012 Committee of Supply, the Singapore Parliament on 6 & 7 March 2012. Available at: http://www.moh.gov.sg/content/moh_web/home/pressRoom/speeches_d/2012/moh_2012_committeeofsupplyspeechhealthcare2020improvingaccessibi.html (accessed on 18 June 2013).Google Scholar
Graham, Elspeth, Jordan, Lucy P., Yeoh, Brenda S.A., Lam, Theodora, Asis, Maruja and Sukamdi. 2012. Transnational families and the family nexus: perspectives of Indonesian and Filipino children. Environment and Planning A 44(4), 793–815.Google Scholar
Hoang, Lan Anh and Yeoh, Brenda S.A. 2011. Breadwinning wives and ‘left-behind’ husbands: men and masculinities in the Vietnamese transnational family. Gender & Society 25(6), 717–739.Google Scholar
Hochschild, Arlie R. 2000. Global care chains and emotional surplus value. In Hutton, Will and Giddens, Anthony (eds.), On the Edge: Living with Global Capitalism, pp. 130–146. London: Jonathan Cape.Google Scholar
Hondagneu-Sotelo, Pierrette and Avila, Ernestine. 1997. “I'm here, but I'm there”: the meanings of Latina transnational motherhood. Gender & Society 11(5), 548–571.Google Scholar
Huang, Shirlena, Thang, Leng Leng and Toyota, Mika. 2012. Transnational mobilities for care: rethinking the dynamics of care in Asia. Global Networks 12(2), 129–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huang, Shirlena, Yeoh, Brenda S.A. and Toyota, Mika. 2012. Caring for the elderly: the embodied labour of migrant care workers in Singapore, Global Networks 12(2), 195–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC). 1999. Report on the Ageing Population. Singapore: Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS).Google Scholar
International Labour Organisation. 2011. 100th ILO annual Conference decides to bring an estimated 53 to 100 million domestic workers worldwide under the realm of labour standards. Press release available at: http://www.ilo.org/ilc/ILCSessions/100thSession/media-centre/press-releases/WCMS_157891/lang--en/index.htm (accessed on 2 March 2012).Google Scholar
Isaksen, Lise W. 2005. Gender and care: the role of cultural ideas of dirt and disgust. In Morgan, David, Brandth, Berit and Kande, Elin (eds.), Gender, Bodies and Work, pp. 115–126. Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Kabeer, Naila. 2007. Marriage, Motherhood and Masculinity in the Global Economy: Reconfigurations of Personal and Economic Life. Working Paper from the Center for Global, International and Regional Studies No. 290: 1–69. Available at: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/7sr54576;jsessionid=C3F22F794462CF26EFD35E667061F0FC#page-4 (accessed on 21 March 2012).Google Scholar
Kofman, Eleonore and Raghuram, Parvati. 2009. The Implications of Migration for Gender and Care Regimes in the South. Social Policy and Development Programme Paper No. 41, Geneva: United Nations Research Institute for Social Development.Google Scholar
Lam, Theodora, Yeoh, Brenda S.A. and Huang, Shirlena. 2006. Global householding in a city-state. International Development Planning Review 28(4), 475–497.Google Scholar
Lan, Pei-Chia. 2003. Maid or madam? Filipina migrant workers and the continuity of domestic labor. Gender and Society 17(2), 187–208.Google Scholar
Lindquist, Johan, Biao, Xiang and Yeoh, Brenda S.A.. 2012. Opening the black box of migration: brokers, the organization of transnational mobility and the changing political economy in Asia. Pacific Affairs 85(1), 7–19.Google Scholar
Mackie, Vera. 2013. Japan's Biopolitical Crisi. International Feminist Journal of Politics, DOI:10.1080/14616742.2013.780938.Google Scholar
Martin, Susan, Lowell, B. Lindsay, Gozdziak, Elzbieta M., Bump, Micah and Breeding, Mary E.. 2009. The role of migrant care workers in aging societies: report on research findings in the United States. Available at: http://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/files/Publications/Research_projects/Labour_markets/Migrant_care_workers/ElderCareReport.pdf (accessed on 6 September 2012)Google Scholar
Ministry of Community Development and Sports (MCYS). 2001. Eldercare Master Plan (FY2001 to FY2005). Singapore: MCYS.Google Scholar
Ministry of Community Development Youth and Sport (MCYS). 2005. National Survey of Senior Citizens 2005. Singapore: MCYS.Google Scholar
Ochiai, Emiko. 2009. Care diamonds and welfare regimes in East and Southeast Asian societies: bridging family and welfare sociology. International Journal of Japanese Sociology 18(1), 60–78.Google Scholar
Ochiai, Emiko. 2010. Reconstruction of intimate and public spheres in Asian modernity: familialism and beyond. Journal of Intimate and Public Spheres Pilot Issue, 2–22.Google Scholar
Parreñas, Rhacel. 2000. Migrant Filipina domestic workers and the international division of reproductive labor. Gender and Society 14(4), 560–580.Google Scholar
Parreñas, Rhacel. 2005. Children of Global Migration: Transnational Families and Gendered Woes. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Parreñas, Rhacel. 2008. The Force of Domesticity: Filipina Migrants and Globalization. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Parreñas, Rhacel. 2012. The reproductive labour of migrant workers. Global Networks 12(2), 269–275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pyle, Jean L. 2006. Globalization, transnational migration, and gendered care work: introduction. Globalizations 3(3), 283–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sassen, Saskia. 2000. Women's burden: counter geographies of globalization and the feminization of survival. Journal of International Affairs 53(2), 255–274.Google Scholar
Save the Children. 2006. Left Behind, Left Out: The Impact on Children and Families of Mothers Migrating for Work Abroad. Sri Lanka: Save the Children.Google Scholar
Singapore Department of Statistics. 2006. General Household Survey 2005 Statistical Release 2: Transport, Overseas Travel, Households and Housing Characteristics. Singapore: Department of Statistics.Google Scholar
Singapore Department of Statistics. 2010. Census of Population 2010 Statistical Release 2: Households and Housholdings. Singapore: Department of Statistics.Google Scholar
Singapore Department of Statistics. 2011a. Population Trends 2011. Singapore: Department of Statistics.Google Scholar
Singapore Department of Statistics. 2011b. The elderly in Singapore. Statistics Singapore Newsletter. Singapore: Department of Statistics.Google Scholar
Singapore Department of Statistics. 2012. Time Series on Labour Force Participation Rate (As at June 2012). Singapore: Department of Statastics.Google Scholar
Singapore Government. 2012. Budget 2012 in Brief. Singapore: Singapore Government.Google Scholar
Singapore Nursing Board. 2011. Annual Report. Available at: http://www.healthprofessionals.gov.sg/content/dam/hprof/snb/docs/publications/Annual%20Report%202011.pdf (accessed on 6 September 2012).Google Scholar
Scalabrini Migration Centre (SMC). 2004. Hearts apart: Migration in the eyes of Filipino children. Manila, the Philippines: Scalabrini Migration Centre.Google Scholar
Sobritchea, Carolyn. 2007. Constructions of mothering: the experience of female Filipino overseas worker. In Devasahayam, Theresa W. and Yeoh, Brenda S.A. (eds.), Working and Mothering in Asia: Images, Ideologies and Identities, pp. 173–194. Singapore: National University of Singapore Press.Google Scholar
Teo, Peggy. 2004. Health care for older persons in Singapore: integrating state and community provisions with individual support. Journal of Aging and Social Policy 16(1), 43–67.Google Scholar
Teo, Peggy, Chan, Angelique and Straughan, Paulin. 2003. Providing health care for older persons in Singapore. Health Policy 64(1), 399–413.Google Scholar
Thai, Hung Cum. 2012. The dual roles of transnational daughters and transnational wives: monetary intentions, expectations and dilemmas. Global Networks 12(2), 216–232.Google Scholar
Thien, Htwe Htwe, Siobhan Austen, Currie, Janice and Lewin, Erica. 2010. The impact of cultural context on the perception of work/family balance by professional women in Singapore and Hong Kong. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 10(3), 303–320.Google Scholar
The Straits Times, various issues. Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings.Google Scholar
Toyota, Mika. 2009. I am a nurse! Professional identity, state regulation and career pathways of Burmese care workers in Singapore. Paper presented at the “International Workshop on Transnational Migrant Identity in Asia: Intersecting Cultural, Social and Economic Dimensions”, Singapore, 17–18 December 2009.Google Scholar
Xiang, Biao. 2014. The would-be migrant: post-socialist primitive accumulation, potential transnational mobility, and the displacement of the present in northeast China. TRaNS: Trans –Regional and –National Studies of Southeast Asia 2(2), 183–199.Google Scholar
Yantzi, Nicole M. and Skinner, Mark W. 2009. Care/caregiving. In Kitchin, Rob and Thrift, Nigel (eds.), International Encyclopaedia of Human Geography, pp. 402–407. Oxford: Elsevier.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yap, Mui Teng and Kang, Soon Hock. 2010. The graying of Singapore's population: Prospects and challenges. In Hofmeister, Wilhelm (ed.), Ageing and Politics: Consequences for Asia and Europe. Panorama: Insights into Asian and European Affairs Occasional Paper Series, pp. 173–190. Singapore: Konrad-Adenmauer-Stiftung.Google Scholar
Yeates, Nicola. 2005. Global care chains: a critical introduction. Working Paper from Global Migration Perspectives No. 44, 1–19.Google Scholar
Yeoh, Brenda S.A. 2009. Making sense of ‘Asian’ families in the age of migration. Asian Population Studies 5(1), 1–3.Google Scholar
Yeoh, Brenda S.A., Chee, Heng Leng, Dung, Thi Kieu and Cheng, Yi'En. 2013. Between two families: the social meaning of remittances for Vietnamese marriage migrants in Singapore. Global Networks 13(4), 441–458.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yeoh, Brenda S.A. and Huang, Shirlena. 1999. Singapore women and foreign domestic workers: negotiating domestic work and motherhood. In Momsen, Janet (ed.), Gender, Migration and Domestic Service, pp. 273–296. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Yeoh, Brenda S.A. and Huang, Shirlena. 2009. Foreign domestic workers and home-based care for elders in Singapore, Journal of Aging and Social Policy 22(1), 69–88.Google Scholar
Yeoh, Brenda S.A. and Huang, Shirlena. 2010. Transnational domestic workers and the negotiation of mobility and work practices in Singapore's home-spaces. Mobilities 5(2), 219–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yeoh, Brenda S.A., Huang, Shirlena and Lam, Theodora. 2005. Transnationalizing the ‘Asian’ family: imaginaries, intimacies and strategic intents. Global Networks 5(4), 307–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar