Cover photo: A group of migrant domestic workers united rallying for their rights. Holding banners with illustrated depictions of their labor to advocate for fair treatment and recognition. CC FNV Migrant Domestic Workers.
As Europe grapples with an aging population and declining birth rates, migrant women have become indispensable to the care work industry; filling critical gaps in caregiving roles. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), there are approximately 169 million international migrant workers worldwide, with nearly 80% of women in this workforce employed in the services sector, including care work.
Care work spans a broad spectrum—from nurturing newborns and educating children to tending the sick and supporting the elderly in their final stages of life—making it a cornerstone of society. Yet, despite their vital roles, migrant caregivers often endure precarious working conditions: lacking formal contracts, social protections, and recognition. They also face systemic discrimination rooted in their gender, ethnicity, culture, and socio-economic status. These conditions spotlight the urgent need for reform in the care industry.
“I came to Europe hoping to escape discrimination and to fulfill my dreams,” said Basira, a 26-year-old caregiver from Afghanistan, who wished to used pseudonym for the safety of her family who now lives in precarious conditions in Iran. Having worked for nearly two years at an elderly rehabilitation center in Sweden, Basira observed: “now I find myself stuck in a job where my value is underestimated, and I face discrimination and exclusion almost daily.”
Basira’s journey to Europe was not her first experience of marginalization as a migrant women. She spent the first 23 years of her life as a refugee in Iran, enduring systemic exclusion and prejudice. Three years ago, she arrived in Europe with aspirations of earning a master’s degree in law. However, her plans unraveled as her family in Afghanistan confronted financial hardship due to the political instability of their homeland. Forced to abandon her studies, she turned to work in the care industry to survive.
Each morning, Basira rises early to care for her elderly clients with unwavering dedication and kindness. Fluent in Swedish, she greets everyone with warmth, but too often, her efforts are met with suspicion or outright hostility—a harsh reminder that the discrimination she hoped to leave behind still shadows her new life.
“Are you sure you can speak Swedish? Or do you only know your mother tongue?“ one client asked, demanding to speak with her Swedish colleague. These remarks, dismissive on the surface, cut deeply, reflecting the systemic biases she endures. “Before, I had much self-confidence,” Basira confessed. “But now, I feel like I’m losing it day by day. Sometimes, a single word can ruin your entire day, making me feel I am worth less than a European colleague.”
The micro-aggressions Basira faces do not always stop at words. Some clients let their prejudices escalate into open harassment, leaving not only emotional scars but physical ones too—painful reminders of a system that fails to protect its most precarious workers.
Basira’s experience is far from isolated. Across Europe, migrant workers in the care industry confront marginalization. Whether it takes the form of psychological or physical abuse, migrant care workers navigate a daily reality of racialization, undervalued work, and systemic discrimination. According to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), 39% of migrant domestic workers report violence, threats, or discrimination on the job; while 56% endure exploitation, including wage theft and unsafe conditions.
“These workers, despite being on the front lines of Europe’s economies and societies, often remain highly marginalized, exploited, and discriminated against due to their gender, socio-economic background, culture, and ethnicity,” said Genevieve Gencianos, Programme Coordinator at Public Services International (PSI).
“They call us ‘Mavrons’—black—like it is all we are good for,” recounted Lissa, a domestic worker from the Philippines who migrated to Cyprus over 20 years ago with plans to stay a few years to support her son’s education back home. Two decades later, Lissa remains in the same job, separated from her family and dreams, trapped by systemic barriers perpetuating her precarious position.
“It is not our fault we left our countries,” Lissa said. “We came for a better future, but that future keeps stretching farther away.”
For countless migrant women, the journey to Europe is driven by necessity—fleeing war, poverty, or political instability—but instead of opportunity, they often find exploitation and discrimination. Nicola Yeates, a professor and expert in transnational social policy, migration, and gendered labor markets, points out that the vital contributions of migrant workers to the care sector are overshadowed by systemic neglect, leaving them undervalued and trapped in cycles of marginalization and social exclusion.
Basira’s experience highlights a broader phenomenon of deskilling, where highly qualified migrant women are funneled into low-paid, unskilled roles.
In 2019, a study from Open Research Europe highlighted that 40.7% of highly educated migrant women in the EU were employed in roles below their qualifications, nearly double the rate of native-born women at 21.1%. The nature of the issues faced by migrant women is clearly structural.
“They are forced into caregiving roles, which not only devalues their skills but traps them in cycles of underemployment,” as Anna Zobnina, the Executive Director of the European Network of Migrant Women, further emphasizes.
Similarly, Maria, a 43-year-old domestic worker from Colombia who has been working in Belgium for more than 10 years describes the frustration of being a professional back home while finding herself limited to cleaning work in Europe. Fearing repercussions at her job, Maria, who requested a pseudonym, shared how the systemic undervaluation of her skills and qualifications has left her trapped in a cycle of unrecognized potential and precarious labor.
“Even if you have the qualifications, the lack of support, language barriers, and systemic obstacles leave you stuck,” she explained. “It is purely physical work that consumes your energy, leaving no time to study or plan for something better.”
As Yeates further explains, this deskilling process, compounded by systemic barriers such as language requirements and the non-recognition of foreign qualifications, creates formidable obstacles to upward mobility. For many migrant workers, as in the case of Maria, Lissa and Basira, leaving the care sector to fulfill their aspirations feels almost impossible.
The Struggle for Rights: Barriers and Exploitation
As Europe’s population ages, caregiving has become essential to the economy. By 2050, the number of people aged 55 or more is projected to grow to 40.6% across the EU, with countries like Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Greece, and Latvia expected to find nearly half of their populations in this age group. This data underscores the urgency of addressing the challenges of an aging society.
To compensate for Europe’s rapid population aging process, much of the labor falls on migrant women in the care industry, whose contributions, though foundational to families, the economy, and the broader society, remain largely invisible.
“It is not just about elderly care anymore; the number of people needing support, whether children or vulnerable adults, is rising,” states Cristina Rovira Izquierdo of Oxfam Spain, linking care work to the unseen depths of the care labor iceberg.
Care work represents a significant yet undervalued segment of the European and worldwide economy. Oxfam’s Time to Care report estimates it accounts for 10% of the global economy and contributes 8% to 24% of GDP in various countries.
Despite its importance to the economy, migrant caregivers are often left with inadequate living conditions with few guarantees recognized.
“You’re working here, but because you’re Asian, they give you a terrible home—two rooms with four to six people crammed inside. Employers don’t cover electricity or water, so it’s deducted from your salary,” said Lissa.
Living arrangements blur personal and professional boundaries: living in an overcrowded flat is one issue, residing with their employers where they can be more extensively stripped of adequate breaks and holidays another. Rosa Dennis, a researcher and worker of SIEMPRE NGO, explains that even those living independently often face isolation in remote areas, far from essential resources and social networks. From her observations, this trend of social isolation and marginalization leads many migrant workers to develop long-term symptoms of depression, self-exclusion and mental health issues.
“Many from my country ask for help. Someone would stay two or three nights with all their suitcases because they were released from their job. For 20 years, we have been helping each other because no one else will,” said Lissa, describing how her flat became a refuge for other migrant workers who lack institutional support and assistance.
For caregivers like Lissa, Maria, and Basira, these challenges reveal the increased levels of gendered and racialized devaluation of labor in the care industry in Europe.
The Gendered Dimensions and Cost of Care
As Europe’s population ages and its women enter full-time employment, the demand for care work has surged—largely met by migrant women who shoulder immense personal and professional sacrifices. Often part of the “global care chain,” these women leave their children in the care of others while prioritizing the needs of the families they work for.
Rovira Izquierdo explains how, due to harsh living and working conditions, migrant women caregivers lack the time and resources to care for themselves and their families back home—prioritizing the needs of the families they work for instead.
“You cannot imagine how many times I cried,” said Lissa. “You feel homesick, you want to go home, but we make this choice for our family and our future.” Her words reflect the profound dedication of countless migrant women who leave their families for Europe, enduring both the emotional toll of separation and the systemic devaluation of their labor.
“This work has to cost little. Everything tied to reproduction is undervalued in our society,” said Francesca Decimo, a sociologist and professor at the University of Trento.
She explains that, due to the patriarchal conception of care work, this kind of work is often devalued as a natural and inherent extension of women’s roles rather than a skilled profession. This mechanism perpetuates cycles of exploitation, feminization, and undervaluation of care work that, when performed by female migrant workers, is even more undervalued and marginalized. The intersectionality of their identities—women, mothers, and migrants—amplifies women migrant caregivers’ precariousness to exploitation, marginalization and discrimination.
“Even if we do the same work, I was paid much less than my European colleagues and male migrants,” said Mina.
The undervaluation of care work is more than an individual injustice: it is a systemic crisis. Migrant women are overrepresented in the sector due to societal structures that exploit their labor while denying them equitable treatment. “Addressing this requires more than policy changes—it demands a cultural shift that recognizes care work as skilled and essential”, stated Decimo. Without such change, Europe’s care economy will continue to thrive on exploiting its most precarious but essential workers, perpetuating cycles of inequality.
Feminist groups across Europe are at the forefront of efforts to dismantle stereotypes and fight for the recognition and protection of domestic workers’ rights. Organizations like the European Women’s Lobby (EWL), the largest coalition of women’s associations in Europe, are leading campaigns to amplify women’s voices in policy discussions, advocating for caregiving work to be recognized as essential and fairly compensated.
Similarly, WIDE+, a European feminist network focused on women’s rights and social justice, links the fight for economic justice to caregiving labor, calling for systemic changes to address its undervaluation. Meanwhile, the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) urges feminist movements to place care at the center of economic reforms through its “No Care Economies Without Domestic Workers!” manifesto. This initiative highlights the leadership and inclusion of domestic workers in policy-making processes.
Grassroots networks are also driving change. Ni Una Menos, originating in Argentina and resonating globally, has inspired feminist groups in Europe to advocate for labor justice, including the rights of migrant domestic workers. Similarly, La PAH (Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca) in Spain and RESPECT Network Europe have created platforms to champion labor and housing rights while fostering solidarity among domestic workers.
Transnational groups like the International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF) amplify the collective voice of migrant workers, emphasizing solidarity and advocating for universal labor protections. These networks emphasize the importance of solidarity and mutual aid in addressing the isolation and precarity faced by migrant caregivers, advocating for universal labor protections and access to justice.
These feminist organizations and transnational networks are reshaping how caregiving is perceived, valued, and regulated. Through advocacy, policy proposals, and grassroots campaigns, they are driving the shift from viewing domestic work as informal and expendable to recognizing it as a respected and integral part of society. Their work is critical to building a fairer Europe—one that values caregiving as skilled labor and ensures dignity and justice for all workers, particularly migrant women.
Informal Economy: A Hidden Workforce
A large part of the care industry in Europe is still in the under-regulated informal economy. This fuels systemic exploitation, disproportionately affecting migrant women. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), in 2021, 81.2% of domestic workers worldwide were employed informally, compared to 39.7% in other sectors. This figure underscores the normalization of precariousness within the care industry, where informal mechanisms thrive due to a combination of neglect, societal undervaluation, and structural inequality. In Europe, the share of informal employment among domestic workers varies significantly across countries, depending on welfare systems, cultural attitudes towards domestic work, and the effectiveness of labor regulations. In Southern Europe, for example, the informal economy is especially prevalent due to weak enforcement mechanisms and high demand for affordable care services.
Yeates highlights that this shadow economy fosters abuse, underpayment, and labor violations for migrant workers; posing critical challenges, including lack of access to social protection, job insecurity, and potential exploitation.
“You can call it home on paper, but society does not make you feel safe… you are always worried they can send you somewhere else,” admitted Basira, highlighting the fear and insecurity that permeate her life. Decimo further explained that the private nature of domestic work compounds this vulnerability. Unlike other workplaces, households lack oversight and cameras, making abuse—unpaid overtime, withheld wages, and even passport confiscation—challenging to document or report. Common violations include unpaid overtime, withheld wages, verbal harassment, and even passport confiscation.
“Tasks outside of the contract become demands you cannot refuse. It is physically demanding work, but the lack of legislative support leaves you feeling isolated and drained, with no room to advocate for yourself,” said Maria.
These abuses, particularly among families with diplomatic immunity or higher societal class, often remain invisible to the eyes of public opinion. Additionally, as Zobnina analyzes, this informal part of care work makes it hard to collect updated and reliable data about this sector and its ongoing struggles and episodes of abuse, marginalization, and exploitation.
“Mobilization within the care sector is challenging due to its precarious nature and lack of working guarantees and social protections”, explained sociologist Decimo. In many European countries, inconsistencies in enforcement deepen this precarity, stripping workers of the ability to unionize or advocate for their rights. Employers often exploit migrant workers’ vulnerability, with some issuing release papers that give workers only one month to find another job before deportation looms, often pushing them into an undocumented status.
“If something happens, the workers run away because they are so afraid of the consequences,” Lissa explained.
These systemic failures stem not only from weak governance but also from a broader societal disregard for caregiving as a profession. Historically undervalued as women’s work, caregiving continues to be viewed as an extension of familial duties rather than skilled labor, as Decimo explains. This perception reinforces informal arrangements where rights violations are dismissed as inevitable trade-offs for affordable care services. Without a fundamental shift in policies, cultural attitudes, and enforcement mechanisms, Europe risks perpetuating a system that prioritizes convenience and cost over fairness and dignity for the very individuals sustaining its households and aging populations.
Adding to these challenges is the rise of right-wing populist movements across Europe, which frame migrants as economic threats rather than vital contributors. Policies influenced by xenophobic rhetoric have tightened immigration controls and further eroded protections for undocumented workers, amplifying their precariousness and restricting access to justice.
The Ethical Dilemma: Migration and Hostility
As right-wing populist parties gain traction across Europe, the continent faces a stark contradiction: while migrant workers are indispensable to its economic and social stability, they remain targets of xenophobic rhetoric and exclusionary policies that portray them as threats rather than vital parts of Europe’s socio-cultural and economic force. These narratives frame migrants as cultural and economic intruders, driving policies that perpetuate structural inequality and exclusion.
“We need them, but we do not want them,” said Decimo, encapsulating Europe’s reliance on migrant labor amid dehumanizing populist narratives.
Workers like Basira, a migrant caregiver, deeply feel the impact. “It is not our fault that our colour is like this, and we go out to work… there are still several injustices that not only me but many migrant women face here.”
Despite legal protections, such as Article 21 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and non-discrimination laws in Europe, migrant workers like Basira, Maria, and Lissa face a harsh daily reality where biases tied to race, culture, and appearance limit opportunities and deepen inequality.
For Muslim women, the bias is even more pronounced, Basira affirmed. “I have faced discrimination, but my Muslim colleagues—those who wear hijabs—experience even more. People see their appearance as a refusal to integrate,” Basira added, highlighting how stereotypes deny even fluent speakers opportunities.
Systemic bias extends beyond the workplace. From her experience and talking with her colleagues, she observes that job applicants with non-European names are 30%less likely to be called for interviews despite identical qualifications.
Legal protections and laws for migrants working in the care industry vary widely across Europe, exposing stark inequalities. Despite the existence of ILO and UN Conventions that safeguard the rights of migrant workers, there is still no binding law on a European level that can hold states accountable to ratify and respect these international frameworks.
On the one hand, some countries like Spain have introduced progressive measures, such as ratifying the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Domestic Workers Convention No. 189, while approving the Royal Decree 893/2024 in September 2024, which focuses on improving occupational safety and health for domestic workers. On the other hand countries such as Hungary, Poland, and Italy, make concerted efforts to lag ratifications; influenced by their governments’ nationalistic and populist views on migration issues. For example, in Italy, where the care sector remains largely unregulated, informal hiring practices deny migrant workers the safeguards of formal contracts. Similarly, as Basira explains, Sweden excludes undocumented workers from training and language programs, perpetuating their marginalization. In Hungary and Poland, the absence of comprehensive legislation leaves domestic workers unprotected, permitting informal employment to dominate.
The rise of populist movements exacerbates these challenges, fostering anti-immigrant sentiment and undermining progress. This duality—an economic dependence on migrant labor paired with political efforts to vilify migrants—reveals a profound ethical failure in Europe. Addressing this paradox requires more than legislative reform—it demands a fundamental shift in how migrant workers are valued and perceived, as Zobnina advocates. Recognizing their integral role is essential for Europe’s economic and social cohesion. Without such change, the continent risks deepening the socio-economic divisions that will only further compromise whats left of its ethical foundations.
Building Bridges of Solidarity for a Collective Future
Migrant women are the silent backbone of Europe’s care economy, sustaining households and societies with tireless labor and immense sacrifices. Despite systemic discrimination and isolation, their contributions remain undervalued, their rights overlooked, and their voices unheard. Yet their resilience and solidarity have become powerful forces for change.
Their strength lies in the bonds of solidarity they build within their communities. Mutual support networks offer emotional, practical, and legal assistance in a system that marginalizes them.
“Even when I went to the jail to visit other domestic workers, you cannot stop crying, but you can still be a supporter in your little way. Do it,“ Lissa said.
“Many women focus so much on work and responsibility that they forget about themselves. Well-being starts from within—to share it with family and others; you must care for yourself first,” explained Maria, emphasizing self-care. Weekly workshops provide safe spaces for migrants to share struggles, recharge, and rebuild strength, fostering personal growth and collective empowerment, as Dennis affirms.
Supported by NGOs and informal groups, these workshops also help women learn new skills, raise awareness about their rights, and organize as a community.
“Education is the key; it’s the only treasure I gave to my son and daughter,” Lissa asserted. Education programs and workshops equip migrant women to advocate for change and prepare the next generation to challenge barriers. Awareness campaigns and integration initiatives are essential to bridging gaps between migrant communities and host societies, fostering collaboration and understanding.
Policy reforms must prioritize amplifying migrant women’s voices in decision-making spaces and public debates. Across Europe, advocates are urging the recognition of caregiving as a skilled labor while emphasizing the critical need for family reunification and social mobility for women migrant workers in the care industry, noted Decimo.
“Migrant women must have opportunities to shape the society they contribute to,” said Lissa, a tireless advocate for workers’ rights. In 2014, Lissa joined forces with other migrant worker activists to establish Obreras Empowered, an association in Cyprus dedicated to advancing the rights and well-being of migrant domestic workers. Through solidarity, empowerment, and collaborative initiatives, the group tackles social and health challenges faced by its members.
Obreras Empowered has been at the forefront of international campaigns, including the One Billion Rising movement to end violence against women and the One Woman At A Time (OWAAT) project, which translates self-help resources into Filipino to support abused migrant women in exercising their rights under the Istanbul Convention.
Lissa emphasizes that the lived experiences of migrant workers offer vital insights that can drive systemic change. “Their perspectives are essential for addressing the broader inequalities, exploitation, and discrimination that persist across Europe,” she explains, underscoring the transformative potential of centering migrant voices and demands in policy reforms and social movements.
By recognizing their labor, investing in their education, and fostering solidarity networks, Europe can build a more inclusive and equitable society where migrant women are celebrated not as invisible laborers but as vital, empowered contributors to our collective future.
After two years as a nurse assistant in a rehabilitation centre, Basira has finally resumed her law studies, pursuing her dream of advocating for migrant workers across Europe.
“Even in the darkness, you can find small glimmers of light,” she said with a glimpse of hope and determination in her eyes. “Never give up. Keep moving to find the light—it will come through. Hope exists, even in the darkest moments, and it can create everything.”
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Gaia Guatri
Gaia Guatri is an independent photojournalist and documentarian specializing in gender inequality, migration, and social justice, with a background in anthropology and international relations. She reports across Europe, China, and Southeast Asia. She collaborates with global media outlets like The Copenhagen Post, Weave News, and Pangyao Magazine to amplify local voices and bring human-centred stories to international audiences.