Dr. Denise L. Spitzer
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      • Intersections of Gender, Work and Health: Migrant Beer Sellers in Southeast Asia
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      • Human Trafficking in eastern Ethiopia: Navigating the causes, nature and routes
      • Retrenched and Returned: Flexible Migrants in the Global Economy
      • Orienting Live-in Caregivers
      • Transnational Families in Transition: Filipino Families, Canadian Issues
      • Images of a Globalized World: Collaborative Visual Ethnography, Intersectionality, and Health
      • Reflections on Kyrgyz Migration
      • Social Support Intervention for Sudanese and Zimbabwean Refugee New Parents
      • Multiple Cultural Transitions and Women's Identities: A Focus on Taiwanese-Canadians
      • Exploring the Experiences of Socially and Economically Disadvantaged People in Canada: Qualitative Analysis
      • Picture This…Migrant Lives, Healthy Lives
      • The Land of Milk and Honey? After the Live-In Caregiver Program
      • Foreign Domestic Workers in Malaysia: Exploring the Intersections of Gender, Migration and Health
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The Land of Milk and Honey? After the Live-In Caregiver Program

PROBLEM: Canada has relied on foreign domestic workers to care for children, the elderly, and people living with disabilities for more than a century. In 1992, the most recent iteration of a foreign domestic worker importation program, the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP), was established. Under the auspices of the LCP, live-in caregivers are eligible to apply for permanent residency status following 24 months of employment within a 36-month period. To date, there has been little systematic follow-up with former LCP workers to ascertain if their hopes and dreams for a better life have been fulfilled

Presentation of findings
RESEARCH TEAM

Principal Investigator: 
  • Dr. Denise L. Spitzer

Co-Investigators:
  • Dr. Karen Hughes
  • Dr. Jacqueline Oxman-Martinez
  • Dr. Jill Hanley

Research Coordinator:
 

  • Sara Torres

FUNDING:

Social Sciences And Humanities Research Council

RESEARCH QUESTION: This study aimed to understand how participation in the LCP influences long-term settlement and integration in Canadian society. To this end, we sought to highlight the impact of gender, county of origin, professional and educational background, and city of residence, on labour market trajectory, self-rated health and well-being, educational attainment, and the life satisfaction of former LCP workers.   

METHODS: Working with community partners in Vancouver, Toronto and Montréal, to help us with recruitment and with the dissemination of findings, we employed both qualitative (interviews and focus groups) and quantitative methods (surveys and demographic data) to gain an understanding of the life trajectories of former LCP workers.  

OUTCOMES: 

Publications:
  • “From Temporary Worker to Resident: The LCP and its Impact Through an Intersectional Lens.” (2012). Torres, S., Spitzer, D. L., Hughes, K., Oxman-Martinez, and Hanley, J. In Legislated Inequality: Temporary Foreign Migrants in Canada, edited by P. Lenard and C. Straehle, Ottawa: McGIll-Queen’s University Press.

Presentations:

  • Ruptured Lives and Reconfigured Identities: The Impact of Foreign Domestic Work on the Lives of Migrant Women in Canada. (2009). Spitzer, D. L. MESEA and the Korean Association for Feminist Studies in English Literature, Seoul, Korea.
  • The Land of Milk and Honey? Findings, Policy Implications and Recommendations.  Spitzer, D. L., Torres, S., Hughes, K., Oxman-Martinez, J. and Hanley, J. (2009). 11th National Metropolis Conference, Calgary, Canada, March 20.
  • Struggles, Resistance and Resilience: Permanent Residency After the LCP. Torres, S., Spitzer, D. L., Hughes, K., Hanley, J., and Oxman-Martinez, J. (2009). National Metropolis Conference, Calgary, Canada, March 20.
  • Searching for the Promised Land: Foreign Domestic Care Workers in Canada. Spitzer, D. L., Torres, S., Hughes, K., Oxman-Martinez, J., and Hanley, J. (2008). International Metropolis Conference, Bonn, Germany. October 31.
  • We’re Survivors. . . It’s in the Blood: Foreign Domestic Workers in Canada. Spitzer, D. L.  (2008). Women’s Worlds Congress 2008, Madrid, Spain, July 7.
  • Gender Matters: Transnational Care Workers in a Globalizing World. Spitzer, D. L. (2008). University of Lillehammer, Lillehammer, Norway, May 30. [invited]
  • Work, Worry and Weariness: Engendering Migrant Health in Canada.  Spitzer, D. L. (2008). Globalization of Intimacies: Body, Gender and Commodification, the University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway, May 26.  [invited]
  • Is Migrating to Canada Bad for Your Health? Examining the Intersections of Gender, Migration and Health. Spitzer, D. L. (2007). Health and Immigration in the Global Space: Historical, Social and Political Perspectives, Beersheva, Israel. June 20-21. [invited]
  • The Land of Milk and Honey? After the Live-in Caregiver Program. Spitzer, D.L., Torres, S., Oxman-Martinez, and Hanley, J.  (2007). 9th National Metropolis Conference, Toronto, Ontario., March 2.
  • Facets of Violence in the LCP: A Critical Analysis of Migrant Workers’ Rights. Oxman-Martinez, J., Davis, G., Hanley, J., Spitzer, D.L., and Hughes, K. (2007).  9th National Metropolis Conference, Toronto, Ontario., March 2.
  • Making the Most of It: Life after the Live-In Caregiver Program. Spitzer, D. L., Hughes, K., Oxman-Martinez, J., and Hanley, J. (2006). 11th Metropolis Conference, Lisbon, Portugal, October 5.
  • The Land of Milk and Honey? Or Is Migrating to Canada Bad for Your Health? Spitzer, D. L. (2006). The Asia Research Institute, Migration Study Group, National University of Singapore, Singapore, September 6. [invited]
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