The 'Mistress' and the 'Maid' in the Globalized Economy

Abstract

Globalization also differentiates women's work in new ways. The flexibilization of the labour market has produced greater equality between educated middle-class women and men while creating greater inequality among women. High value is placed on the integration of professional women into the formal economy while the 'paid' reproductive work of women in the informal economy (the household) continues to be undervalued; women's 'paid' work outside the home is not equal to women's 'paid' work inside it. Globalization and the process of individualization (i.e., social differentiation) are complementary processes which are restructuring both the private and the public arenas. These changes have produced two categories of women within the household: professional women and maids. The growing participation of professional women in the labour market is accompanied by the largely 'invisible' development of paid work in the private household. Growing numbers of migrant women are employed in undeclared jobs in the household-oriented service industry, in cleaning, and as child caretakers, allowing more women to have professional careers. An invisible link has thus emerged between women's increasing participation in the formal labour market and the informal labour market roles of migrant and immigrant women.