The role of migrant care workers in ageing societies: report on research findings in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and the United States

Abstract

The ageing of the population presents serious challenges to developed Western nations, particularly those managing the retirement and care of a growing number of older persons. The ageing population will generate an increasing demand for caregivers, a demand made challenging because of the declining availability of nativeborn caregivers compounded by various factors including declining family care of older people, increasing life expectancy of infirm elderly and the increasing demand for social caregivers, often in home settings. Health care institutions and long-term care facilities have been turning to the foreign born to address shortages of workers, reflecting a parallel trend in the migration of health care workers worldwide. Indeed, migrants already play a significant role in the care of older persons.

This report presents the comparative results of a research project on the role of migrants in the workforce of caregivers for the elderly in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and the United States. The purpose of the study is to examine 1) the contextual factors influencing current and future demand for care workers in an ageing society, particularly migrant care workers; 2) the experiences of migrant workers, of their employers, and of older people in institutional care (residential and nursing care homes) and in homebased care; 3) the implications of the employment of migrant workers in the care of older people for the working conditions of the migrants concerned and for the quality of care; and 4) the implications of these findings for the future care of older people and for migration policy and practice.