Next year marks the 50th anniversary of Migrant Domestic Workers’ (MDWs) having migrated to Hong Kong. For almost half a century, many local families have heavily relied on MDWs to care for elderly parents and young children so that they can work themselves.
Some statistics
MDWs contributed an estimated $98.9 billion to Hong Kong’s economy in 2018 (i.e. 3.6% of the GDP). Currently 340,000 households employ a MDW, with an estimated 600,000 MDWs needed by 2047 to fill care gaps for a rapidly ageing population. In so many ways the presence of MDWs unlocks economic potential in Hong Kong, yet many return home worse off.
As the only Hong Kong charity dedicated to supporting the unique vulnerabilities of children born to migrant mothers, PathFinders has been at the forefront of efforts to protect the best interests of vulnerable MDWs and tackle social inequalities faced by the MDW community. Since 2008, we have helped over 9,800 migrant mothers and children facing crisis to find a path to a brighter future.
Despite legal protections, each year hundreds of expectant MDW mothers are unlawfully fired and pressured to leave or resign because they, and their employers, simply don’t know what else to do. When this happens, the MDW immediately becomes homeless and within two weeks, when her working visa expires, she loses access to public services, including healthcare vital for prenatal screening and newborn care.
For those unable to return home, their children are typically undocumented, stateless and lack access to essential services including healthcare, shelter and education. Every year 500 children and their migrant mothers come to our door to seek our specialist care and urgent protection.
Intervention and prevention
Through our Crisis Intervention programme, we provide care, comfort and counselling to mothers and children in crisis. Many MDWs are women of childbearing age and lack access to reproductive knowledge and services. We therefore also focus on Crisis Prevention by empowering MDWs to make well-informed life decisions while working in Hong Kong.
With the number of MDWs employed in Hong Kong forecast to continue to rise, we fear the problems PathFinders tackles will likely escalate without Systemic Change. We believe that with imagination, collaboration and a commitment to strengthening protections for the children we serve, practical and affordable solutions can be found. To this end, PathFinders engages in dialogue with HKSAR Government Departments, consulates, United Nations agencies, academics, employment agencies and other key stakeholders to ensure policies are enforced and solutions explored that protect the children and mothers we serve.
In addition, we engage with the general public to increase understanding, acceptance and support for children born to MDWs. Through our ongoing #WorkingMomsHK campaign, we seek to increase empathy for MDWs as mothers and work with the media to highlight key opportunities for positive change.
In the past few years, the burden of being working mothers has never been greater in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic – with many struggling with the demands of work, childcare and home-based learning. This has greatly deepened our respect for all working mothers – including the MDW mothers amongst us. Many MDW mothers spend most of their children’s growing years away to provide for their families so their children can have a brighter future. Unfortunately, despite their sacrifices, the precious contribution of MDWs has long been undervalued in our society.
No Child Left Behind
We’ve recently launched “No Child Left Behind: A Mother’s Love Knows No Borders” virtual exhibition, featuring heartwarming stories and images about how MDW mothers and the children they leave behind endeavour to stay connected, despite the distance. Curated in collaboration with award-winning photographer Xyza Cruz Bacani, this thoughtful exhibition aims to bring to the public eye the unparalleled strength, resilience and determination of MDW mothers who live thousands of miles away from their children.
Separation of mothers and children due to migration can be extremely painful. Yet we’ve heard many wonderful stories of how MDW mothers and their children endeavour to maintain heart-to-heart connections and stay strong, despite the distance. These dedicated mothers make concerted efforts to be present in their children’s lives – from guiding them in homework to celebrating birthdays together – so they don’t feel left behind. For no child can truly be left behind when a mother is able to remain a constant part of their life, while relying on a caring guardian to meet her child’s needs at different developmental stages.
It takes a village to raise a child. Indeed, helping children grow in a safe, trusting and healthy environment takes a lot of work and the support of many people. It is especially challenging for migrant mothers who have no choice but to leave their children behind, while struggling to parent them and keep their relationship alive from afar.
There’s so much we can all do to show our care and respect for MDWs. In particular, if you employ a MDW who has children, please encourage her to have regular, heart-to-heart connections with her children. Support their connection by providing your employee with short breaks to interact with her children as well as stay energised to manage their work tasks more efficiently. This small gesture will truly make a meaningful difference.
To find out more about PathFinders and support our work, visit www.pathfinders.org.hk.
Our Work with HKCCR
At PathFinders, we strongly believe in collaboration to bring about positive change. Over the years, we’ve worked with various partners to optimise our efforts to promote and safeguard children’s rights. Sharing the same vision and mission, we worked with the Hong Kong Committee on Children’s Rights (HKCCR) as part of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) Civil Society Reporting Project in late 2020 to raise concerns about the rights of children in Hong Kong.
The article – written by Catherine Gurtin (CEO of PathFinders) – is part of The Shield of Justice campaign, which will run until December 2022 in support of Hong Kong Committee on Children’s Rights
