Circular Migration of Live-ins in Germany
evolved yet in Eastern European sending countries , so the women are still willing to do such jobs and to devote themselves to the more traditional female tasks .
The Eastern European employees are more used to live in big families still where you help each other , also with the work that we do not do anymore , even not for money , for them it is normal , it is part of everyday life . Also to service which we in Germany cannot do anymore . […] And that can still come from Eastern Europe , because they are one generation behind when it comes to that . […] Yes , that is really like three generations ago there , really , where everybody lives in the same village and where you meet regularly and I do not know if you still have that here , maybe in the villages , but that is also crumbling slowly . And in the city it is not like that already for a long time . ( Head of
a German agency for live-ins )
With this statement the informant does not only link the debate around liveins to wider questions of emancipation but she also seems to “ ethnitized ” this kind of work , as she generalizes that Eastern European employees are better suited for the tasks the jobs entail . What is further interesting about linking the employment of live-ins to processes of emancipation in their country of origin is that it suggests these processes mutually influence the other . If the informant says that they are “ one generation behind ” when it comes to emancipation , how will the employment of live-ins develop once emancipatory processes evolve ? Will this lead to a lower willingness of Eastern European women to take on these jobs ? These questions raise doubts on the sustainability of relying on informal care workers from abroad for supplying the local demands for care .
Other interviews confirmed that the rise of female employment has led to a restructuring of the households . Formerly female tasks such as caring for relatives are increasingly unoccupied as women have their own careers outside the traditional roles at home . At the same time , the political approach in elderly care has been following the idea of “ outpatient care before inpatient care ” (“ ambulant vor stationär ”). The head of several elderly homes pointed out that while societal changes led to household care being outdated , politics still proposed it as the solution for the increasing demands in elderly care . As full professional care at home is very expensive and family structures changed , live-ins fill those gaps that cannot be covered by outpatient care or families .
The interviews have also indicated that contrary to the situation in elderly care homes there is no shortage of labor when it comes to live-ins . To explain this development only with the willingness of live-ins to fill these positions would be oversimplifying the situation , however . There might be societal structures in the sending countries , which inhibit women to reach other positions . It could also be that because of the lack of job opportunities in the sending countries in general , the live-ins are forced to take these jobs in order to make a living . Even though this limitation to the lack of emancipation should be handled with caution as other factors play a role , it still shows what kinds of skills are asked of the workers filling the position as live-ins in Germany .
It is further interesting to consider how the head of a German live-in agency explained what qualifications are asked of the live-ins . He clarified that many did
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