Domestic workers, our unsung heroes
1.5 | April 19, 2020 | Faith, Hope and Love in the Time of Corona
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is love.
1 Cor 13:13
IMAGE: Marko Lovric
Domestic workers, many of whom are migrants, form a significant part of the global workforce. As an unorganised sector of the labour force, their economic rights and social security benefits are often undervalued within a market economy that seeks profit. Moreover, it is during periods of crisis — such as the ongoing pandemic — that their economic and human rights are further denied. Torn between their commitment to family and work, domestic workers remain unsung heroes amidst a crisis.
In the words of Pope Francis: “Now more than ever, persons, communities and peoples must be put at the centre, united to heal, to care and to share.” How can our faith ensure the care of the worker?
FAITH
Letter of his Holiness Pope Francis to the Popular Movements
Pope Francis | Libreria Editrice Vaticana | 12 April 2020
I think of all the people, especially women, who multiply loaves of bread in soup kitchens: two onions and a package of rice make up a delicious stew for hundreds of children. I think of the sick, I think of the elderly. They never appear in the news, nor do small farmers and their families who work hard to produce healthy food without destroying nature, without hoarding, without exploiting people’s needs. I want you to know that our Heavenly Father watches over you, values you, appreciates you, and supports you in your commitment.
How difficult it is to stay at home for those who live in tiny, ramshackle dwellings, or for the homeless! How difficult it is for migrants, those who are deprived of freedom, and those in rehabilitation from an addiction. … Now more than ever, persons, communities and peoples must be put at the centre, united to heal, to care and to share.
I know that you have been excluded from the benefits of globalization. … This may be the time to consider a universal basic wage which would acknowledge and dignify the noble, essential tasks you carry out. It would ensure and concretely achieve the ideal, at once so human and so Christian, of no worker without rights.
HOPE
We are all affected, but not equally: Migrant domestic workers in pandemic times
Lise Widding Isaksen and Lena Näre | Discover Society | 16 April 2020
The precarious situation of care workers and as a consequence those they care for are by no means limited to Italy. Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated how undervalued care work is in other societies as well, including Nordic welfare states. The pandemic has revealed how extremely poorly resourced and understaffed the elder-care sector is. In the metropolitan regions in the Nordic countries, the elder-care sector has increasingly turned to workers with migration histories (Wrede & Näre 2013). High staff turnover and reliance on temporary workers is exposing both the elderly and their carers to risk of infection as nurses alternate between working in care homes and in home care.
Society’s responses to ‘grand disasters’ can reflect and reveal the social structures and inequalities on which the society is built. For many multi-generational Italian families, migrant domestic workers have become a crucial part of their everyday lives and their own opportunities to provide for their families. The pandemic demonstrates how interconnected we all are. The corona crisis tells a story of an Italian society which is based on a welfare state that is about to collapse if and when migrant domestic workers stop taking care of the many dependent elderly. Solutions and responses to the crisis must be inclusive and cannot allow precarious groups in society to fall through security nets and services.
LOVE
Why domestic workers are the unsung heroes of Hong Kong’s coronavirus crisis
Jason Y Ng | Hong Kong Free Press | 10 April 2020
In Hong Kong, the contribution of the roughly 400,000 foreign domestic workers, a vast majority of them from the Philippines and Indonesia, has gone largely unrecognised. Their workload has surged since the outbreak began in January.
They care for young children when schools are closed, tend to the elderly who are most vulnerable to the disease, and protect the household by sanitising and sterilising every nook and cranny.
Mary summed up the collective anxiety in the domestic worker community: “We’re nervous about our personal safety and our job security. We’re nervous about ourselves and our employers. If something happens to us or our employers, what’ll happen to the people back home who depend on our income? Everyone’s scared.”
Postscript
90 km with migrant hope
Here’s a first-hand look at the exodus of migrant workers seen as a nationwide lockdown was announced to control the spread of Covid-19. The lockdown halted transport and shut borders, forcing many families to walk on foot towards their hometowns, however far they may be.
Bandeep Singh | India Today Magazine | 13 April 2020
Wishing you faith, hope and love,
Rinald D’Souza SJ
HISTORIA DOMUS
For it is not so much knowledge that fills and satisfies the soul,
but the intimate understanding and relish of the truth.
The Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola, #2
What is Faith, Hope and Love in the Time of Corona all about?
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