| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺北大學 === 社會工作學系 === 105 === The aging of population, change of family structure, the percentage of women participating in formal labor market increasing, and the time devoted to long-term care services limited, expensive and lacking diversification and flexibility. Because migrant care workers can live at home providing care that is more affordable, working longer hours and more convenient than formal care, it has become the most employed care model for most families nowadays. As of June 2017, the number of migrant care workers has reached nearly 240 thousand, due to the invisibility of working place of Migrant care workers and language difficulties, they are most vulnerable and more likely to suffer from labor exploitation and abuse. In the past, there were few research focus on the dynamic process of migrant care workers’ help seeking process. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the process of migrant care workers who have been exploiated or abused by their private employers or employer’s family member and their help seeking proces, problems encountered in the process and channels to seek assistance in solving problems and responses from formal channels. Through in-depth interviewing their experiences and feelings from the migrant care workers in the shelter, this study hopes to give feedback on the current policies and give suggestions for future policy reform and practice.
This study adopts semi-structured interviews, seven migrant care workers were selected from migrant workers shelter in New Taipei City. The study found that when migrant care workers encountered exploitation at the work environment, sexual harassment and abuse by care recipients, employer, or care recipient’s family member, as well as sudden dismissal, they would seek help from broker as their first choice. When the broker does not actively assist, some of the interviewees would turn to official channels such as 1955 (24 Hour Hotline) or go directly to the Labor Bureau for help; other interviewees would choose informal channels like relatives or friends or townee to give them relevant information on official systems. After obtaining information from the Labor Bureau, they can finally successfully arrive at the shelter.
Social workers in the New Taipei City migrant workers shelter act as the migrant care workers’ rights advocators, mediator, enabler, coordinator, broker, and supporters during their service. One of the most important role is to empower the care workers, give the decision right back to the interviewees, treat them as subjects who has the ability and resillience to choose and decide, not passively waiting for job arrangement. Accompany with the social workers and counselors in the shelter, the migrant care workers are empowered to be able to solve problems. When they face difficulties with a new job again, the migrant care workers will be more actively speaking out and fighting for their rights with confidence as well as take the initiative to express their need for a replacement job and write to the staff of New Taipei City migrant workers shelter personally. Through both channels, change may be implemented as soon as possible.
Finally, jumping out of the previous policy recommendations which were entirely based on the researchers’ perspective, switching to mainly focusing on the voice of migrant care workers, we can propose policy and more practical work suggestions as the basis for future policy improvement. A collaboration among the Labor Bureau, welfare sectors, cross unit and non-profit organizations is recommended to implement agency guidance mechanism, increase inspector configuration and establish and provide supporting policies, and provide possible policy suggestions and initiatives for New Taipei City migrant workers shelter to improve their well-beings.
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