The content of this webpage is derived from a research project conducted by Hong Kong Baptist University, titled "Strangers/Helpers at Home: Hong Kong Families Employing Foreign Domestic Workers." This webpage provides a summary and insights from the research project, aiming to help the public, social welfare organizations, scholars, media, and other stakeholders gain a deeper understanding of the situations faced by Hong Kong families employing foreign domestic workers.
Overall, families that hire domestic workers do not reduce their overall unpaid labor time. While it reduces time spent on housework, parents shift their time to other tasks.
I originally intended to let my son casually participate in his English recitation, but unexpectedly, our domestic worker helped him practice. Sometimes, there are things that I should be doing but haven't done, and she steps in to help. I don't have many demands for her. I only ask her to take care of my son's daily needs, but she does more than what I require
It's mentally draining. You have to teach someone how to do things, she has to adapt to your home, and you have to adapt to her. It's like being in a relationship where you need to adjust. You have another person in your home whom you must care for, and you are also responsible for her well-being. You get worried when she leaves home. If she gets sick or has dental issues, I have to take her to the doctor or dentist. When she had head lice, I had to take her for treatment too.
Overall, our research indicates that migrant domestic worker policies can promote an increase in the overall fertility rate in society, but it is also essential to carefully consider the impact of such policies on different social strata.
The results align with previous research, indicating that neither hiring migrant domestic workers nor seeking parental assistance significantly reduces overall marital conflict. A more detailed analysis reveals that both forms of outsourcing generate positive and negative effects that offset each other.
Although the workers may sometimes have a temper, my mother-in-law feels at ease and smiles when she sees them. She might not even recognize us. For instance, on Sundays when the workers are off, my mother-in-law is happy to see them return. She waves at them, and they watch TV together. When you put yourself in their shoes, if they care for my mother-in-law so well—something I might not be able to do—why not be more generous?
We have more personal time, but our relationship with our son isn't as close... When the worker is around, she feeds him first and then cooks for us, so we eat while she plays with him. This means she spends more time playing with him than I do.
Our research indicates that the phenomenon of employing or having employed foreign domestic workers extends beyond the middle class and reaches families with lower socio-economic status (SES) background.
My father-in-law is not able to take care of my mother-in-law, although he thinks he can. Whenever something happens to my mother-in-law, my father-in-law panics and keeps calling me and my wife alternately. This may seem like a small matter, but it greatly affects our daily work, as we really cannot leave our jobs at any time during the day.
Firstly, we can afford it. We have pensions, so hiring help isn't an issue. In addition, life can be more comfortable. We don't have to cook or wash dishes ourselves. We can ask someone else to shop or prepare meals.
She knows we are both busy, and I made it clear that I wouldn't sacrifice my career for family. She worries that without anyone to care for the house, it will become messy and disorganized, so she insisted that we must hire someone.
The research project "Strangers/Helpers at Home: Hong Kong Families Employing Foreign Domestic Workers" has published seven academic journal articles. These articles examine various issues related to families hiring migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong. In this section, we provide summaries of these articles along with links to the original texts for public reference.
The HKBU research team conducted in-depth interviews with over 30 respondents as part of the research project. These excerpts from interviews with employer families can help future employers and various stakeholders understand the experiences from the employer's perspective, allowing the public to recognize that families hiring foreign domestic workers are diverse. This challenges stereotypes about hiring foreign domestic workers and highlights the diversity and needs of their experiences, while also addressing the challenges and realities within the context of Hong Kong's foreign domestic worker policies.
The research team at Hong Kong Baptist University conducted a representative large-scale household survey as part of this project. This webpage contains the database files of the survey, including the questionnaire, field reports and survey data codebook, and interactive data charts compiled from survey data.
