ABSTRACT
As societies age, social care is an increasingly important social policy domain focussed on the provision of care and social protection for vulnerable groups. These groups include children, those living with disabilities, and fragile older adults. Social care and healthcare services are part of a continuum of care provided by societies, but their scope, scale, and organisation are vastly differentiated across geographical contexts. What is common across core OECD nations, however, is the increasing use of migrant workers in care and health sectors. In this chapter analysis of migration and the care sector is framed by two concepts: the vulnerability theory, where vulnerability is understood as a universal constant of the human condition, one that necessitates models of state responsiveness; and Global Care Chains, where migrants, predominantly women from the Global South, are incorporated into domestic, child, and elder care contexts in the Global North. This chapter explores the policies and processes directing migrant workers into social, home, and healthcare settings. Using Canada and the UK as examples, the chapter explores how migration policy channels migrant workers into the diverse institutional care structures of healthcare, home-based and long-term care. It highlights the significance of intersectional disadvantage, vulnerabilities, the ethics of care, and the devaluing and redistribution of care that has structured current systems of care provision.
