1. ‘I’m allowed out on Sunday afternoon’: Gender, migration regimes and the (im)mobility of domestic labour Rosie Cox, r.cox@bbk.ac.uk

2. Mobility and immobility for domestic workers  Domestic workers are subject to highly restrictive migration regimes.  Domestic workers are often excluded from labour rights or the rights other migrant workers are granted  Requirements to live in give employers undue control over all aspects of domestic workers’ lives.  Regulations can cover personal life, dress, relationships.

3. “I’m absolutely appalled by MOM’s [Ministry of Manpower’s] ridiculous proposal to give maids mandatory days off. Owners employ maids to serve, i.e. they are servants. As such, they ought to be available 24/7 to meet the demands of their owners. One shudders to think of the mischief and ghastly behaviour in which these servants will indulge on their off days. Employer control of the servant will be severely hampered.”  (Anon 9 March 2012 quoted in Platt 2012).

4. UK au pair scheme  Traditionally au pairs were 17-27 years old, unmarried and without dependents. Lived with ‘host family’ and carried out 25 hours a week of ‘light housework’ and childcare in exchange for ‘pocket money’ their own bedroom and board.  November 2008 au pair visa deleted and au pairing now unregulated with only guidance provided coming from an organisation of au pair placement agencies.  Two year project interviewing au pairs and hosts in the UK. Analysing ads and talking to key informants. Builds on study undertaken in 2000.

5. Immobility within the home  “Besides, being an au pair means little freedom – I have to stay with the family almost 24 hours, to live with them. Sometimes it feels like living in a ‘golden cage”. Lithuanian female au pair aged 25 [W2reint] (Anderson et all 2006 p43)  When I was an au-pair I was even sharing a room with a small boy, so it is like you are with the child 24 hours a day, which means you can’t really talk about a personal life.” Slovak female au pair aged 28 [W2ret] (Anderson et al 2006 p44)  “When you live with a family you actually never leave your job, which is horrible. Even when you close the door, they are there always and you can’t go to the kitchen, or you can, but you disturb them. It’s as if you were living the life of someone else.” Czech female au pair aged 25 [W2ret] (Anderson et al 2006 p44)

6.  ‘Why should I go there [the TV room]? I am a person who cleans there. I am not a member of the family’ (Czech au pair 2000 study)  I don’t dare to go downstairs in the kitchen even if I am hungry. I prefer to stay upstairs because I know that whenever I come downstairs there will be some work for me, something to clean in the kitchen or something. I want to have my time off and it’s not possible to have time off and to come downstairs and have, I don’t know, have a coffee. I am always waiting to hear “please could you just...” ‘ (Czech au pair 2000 study).

7.  ‘I always gave them a big room and I gave them a telly and I’d say to them, “If we’re ever in the sitting room don’t feel free to come in.” Whereas lots of people say, you know, the au pair deal is that they’re supposed to be part of the family and I’d say “you’re not. If you want a buddy buddy family then we’re not the family for you” ‘ (London Host 2000 study).  ‘They don’t sit in here [the living room] that’s about my only house rule. They’ve got a nice bedroom and in the evening we go our separate ways.’ (London Host 2000 study).

8. Not going out...  Then she just told me that she found it difficult for me in [village] because to get to the nearest city which was Salisbury, to get one hour by bus. So she told me oh I realise that you cannot really follow your courses or you cannot really enter because it will be difficult to get there (au pair 2012 study).  The thing is that, at the beginning - imagine that the area I live in is very isolated. So at the beginning, for two or three months, I just didn't connect with anybody. I had no social life whatsoever. So then, she used to tell me a lot, go out, do something. I was very reserved, and I kept telling her, how can I go out if I don't know anyone? (au pair 2012 study)

9.  But you don't get to see much, because you're working. Well I could go to London, but you don't really do that. I've been there one time, when I've been here [England] (au pair 2012 study).  I'm here to work. I'm not here to be a part of the family. In that manner of speech. So all of a sudden, don't go with them out eating, but staying home watching the dog or watching the kids (au pair 2012 study).  Of course there was so much work that you had to be spiderman to do it in 20h!it was rich and quite know family in UK. They had castle. 3 kids. So after I became professional ironer:)...they paid 70£,and no food was provided as au pair programme commits families.they didnt even offer to give a lift to the shop (au pair 2012 study).

10. Conclusions  The mobility and immobility of domestic workers and au pairs is facilitated by migration regimes and labour law.  Domestic workers have fewer rights than others and employers have a high degree of control. Living in is a particularly pernicious form of control.  Living in is to do with the gendering of domestic work, its relationship to femininity and the belief that women ‘belong’ in the home.  The enforced mobility and immobility of domestic workers is not separable from the gendering of domestic work.