Fictive kinships and the remaking of family life in the context of paid domestic work: The case of Philippine Yayas

Maria Rosario T. de Guzman, Aileen S. Garcia, Minerva D. Tuliao

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

For many migrants, mediated communication and other forms of contact can provide a means to maintain some semblance of family life across distance. For others, economic and other constraints can make meaningful long-distance connections challenging or impractical. This chapter highlights how some migrants reconfigure family life not by bridging physical distance with biological kin but by developing close connections in their host communities. The authors draw from their research on Philippine rural-to-urban migrants who work as yayas (i.e., live-in, domestic workers caring for children) and how they build family life with peers in their neighborhoods and with their employers in the context of paid domestic work. The chapter highlights how culturally embedded notions of family are reflected in these fictive kinships and how indigenous notions of obligations and family life can provide protections and benefits but also make yayas more vulnerable to abuse in the workplace.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationParenting from Afar and the Reconfiguration of Family across Distance
PublisherOxford University Press
Pages72-89
Number of pages18
ISBN (Electronic)9780190265076
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2018

Keywords

  • Domestic workers
  • Fictive kinships
  • Filipinos
  • Migration
  • Yayas

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Psychology

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