We also deserve help during the pandemic: the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong

Ingrid D. Lui, Nimisha Vandan, Sara E. Davies, Sophie Harman, Rosemary Morgan, Julia Smith, Clare Wenham and Karen Ann Grépin

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses particular challenges for migrant workers around the world. This study explores the unique experiences of foreign domestic workers (FDWs) in Hong Kong, and how COVID-19 impacted their health and economic wellbeing. Interviews with FDWs (n = 15) and key informants (n = 3) were conducted between May and August 2020. FDWs reported a dual-country experience of the pandemic, where they expressed concerns about local transmission risks as well as worries about their family members in their home country. Changes to their current work situation included how their employers treated them, as well as their employment status. FDWs also cited blind spots in the Hong Kong policy response that also affected their experience of the pandemic, including a lack of support from the Hong Kong government. Additional support is needed to mitigate the particularly negative effects of the pandemic on FDWs.

Keywords: Covid-19; foreign domestic workers; Hong Kong; migrant; pandemic; coronavirus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J01 R14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 7 pages
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published in Journal of Migration and Health, 2021, 3. ISSN: 2666-6235

Downloads: (external link)
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/114310/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:114310

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library LSE Library Portugal Street London, WC2A 2HD, U.K.. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by LSERO Manager ().