Transnational Care Chains and the Emotional Labor of Migrant Domestic Workers in Europe

African Journal of Gender and Women Studies | Vol. 11, No. 9, September 2026 | pp. 15–28

DOI: 10.46882/2026/AJGWS/001296

Article Type: Research Article

Title: Transnational Care Chains and the Emotional Labor of Migrant Domestic Workers in Europe

Names of Author: Dr. Elena Rostova¹

Author's Affiliation: ¹Department of Gender Studies, Central European University, Vienna, Austria.

Abstract:
Global demographic shifts and the privatization of eldercare in Western Europe have fueled a growing demand for migrant domestic workers from Africa, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia. While remittances sent by migrant women sustain families and local economies in their countries of origin, these transnational care arrangements often rely on restrictive visa regimes that strip workers of labor protections. Live-in domestic workers frequently endure social isolation, wage theft, and intense emotional strain as they nurture employers’ families while separated from their own children. This paper investigates how African and Eastern European migrant women negotiate agency, dignity, and collective resistance within private domestic workspaces in Austria and Italy. Anchored in transnational feminist theory and sociology of care, the study draws on life-history interviews with 38 domestic workers and ethnographic observation within migrant advocacy networks. I argue that grassroots worker collectives foster vital spaces of mutual aid that challenge the racialized and gendered devaluation of care labor.

Keywords: Transnational care chains, migrant domestic workers, emotional labor, transnational feminism, labor rights, care economy, Europe, migration

Manuscript Timeline: Received: June 15, 2026; Revised: July 22, 2026; Accepted: July 27, 2026; Published: September 15, 2026.

Citation: Rostova, E. (2026). Transnational Care Chains and the Emotional Labor of Migrant Domestic Workers in Europe. African Journal of Gender and Women Studies, 11(9), 15–28. DOI: 10.46882/2026/AJGWS/001296

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