Foreigners in our homes: linking migration and family policies in Singapore

Abstract

Abstract In Singapore, despite high levels of state intervention in managing the influx of foreign labour, work conditions of foreign domestic workers (FDWs) are largely left to the discretion of individual employers. We argue that to better understand the government's reticence, as well as certain reluctance on the part of employers for reform on this particular issue, we need to go beyond the analysis of migration policies. Policies towards FDWs must be situated in the context of other social policies targeted at the citizens of Singapore. We show that the reform of migrant workers' working and living conditions and the limits to the reform depend on what these reforms mean in the context of the state's approach to welfare, and particularly its idealised vision of ‘the Singapore family’ within this framework. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.