Nursing care services show extent of globalization

Ken Endo / Special to The Yomiuri Shimbun

People may feel uncomfortable when they hear that even such a personal unit as the family is no exception to the ongoing process of globalization.

However, such a phenomena can be observed in many countries at a time when nursing care workers know no national borders.

The reason behind the phenomena is the aging population in advanced countries and an increase in the number of working women. In countries where welfare programs leave much to be desired and few men do the household chores and nurse their parents, it is easy to see a collapse in the supply and demand balance of nursing care within the family.

To fill this nursing care and housework "deficit balance," nursing care workers and household workers--most of whom are women--head to advanced countries from developing countries.

Italy is "advanced" in this perspective. Since the 1980s, the country has been accepting such workers from countries including Eritrea, the Philippines and Peru. The number of nursing care workers and household workers from Romania and Ukraine increased rapidly in the 1990s, and growth has been accelerating this century.

In Italy, people refer to such workers as "badante," a word derived from "badare," which means to take care of someone. The total number of such workers is unknown, because many work in Italy without visas. However, in one estimate, about 650,000 to 1 million badante are working in the country--perhaps even more. Many of them live in households containing elderly people and engage in the kind of work that previously would have been shouldered by wives, daughters and daughters-in-law. Their monthly age is about 700 euros to 900 euros, which is about half the amount it would take to hire an Italian worker.

The practice of hiring badante is widespread and deeply rooted in Italy. As a result, political parties calling for a clampdown on immigration, such as the Lega Nord (Northern League), say they are prepared to make an exception for badante workers.

The practice of accepting nursing care workers and household workers from overseas also can be seen in other European countries, such as Austria and Germany.

The situation is not so different in Asia.

About 800,000 foreign nursing care workers and household workers--mostly women--are employed in Asian countries including Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Malaysia.

In relation to this practice, internationally arranged marriages are increasing in Asian countries. Two in seven marriages in Taiwan, and more than one-third in farming villages in South Korea, are internationally arranged.

In Tokyo, the number of households hiring foreign housekeepers is increasing gradually. The Japanese government has allowed Indonesian, and Filipinos to work in the nation's nursing homes for the elderly.

Workers who have crossed national borders have been dramatically changing the makeup of households and welfare facilities of the countries in which they operate.

Thinking back to the past, household styles have changed significantly over several generations, from extended families living under one roof to nuclear families. In Japan, people who live alone now account for a quarter of all households.

Foreign residents now play an important role in many of the nation's households. The number of such households will continue to increase as globalization marches on.

Endo, an expert in international politics, is a professor at Hokkaido University and a fellow of the European Research Institute. He lives in Italy.