Immigrants and domestics
There were two items in the local English-language press that caught my interest in the past week. Both had to deal with the domestic workers coming into China from the Philipines.
The first was rather menacing, and must have been directed towards the English-speaking readers of the Shenzhen Daily. On August 6, the headline at the top of the front page read "370 illegal expats repatriated." The article went on to describe how the local police would continue to target Filipina domestic workers since absolutely none of them have been permitted to work in Shenzhen.
I have no idea if this is a toothless threat or something that should be feared. This week I've seen women I recognize from the English Mass and the playground all over Shekou.
In contrast, a few days later in Hong Kong's South China Morning Post ran an article about the increased demand for Filipina domestics throughout urban China. In the article "Demand soars for Filipino domestics" (paid subscription only)
A lot of the Filipina domestics I know from church and playground do work for foreign families that are not native English speakers. Since all of the international schools in Shenzhen instruct primarily in English, all of the kids must be proficient in English. When one Norwegian woman found out I didn't have any kind of nanny, she reasoned it was because my son didn't need to learn English to go to school here.
And the pay for Filipinas is interesting compared not only to what Chinese domestics make here (4000 RMB as opposed to 1000), but also compared to what they make in Hong Kong. I wondered why they would come over to the mainland instead of working in Hong Kong (where we always assume everything is better) and it turns out the minimum wage for domestics in Hong Kong is less than HK$1000 per month. They make much, much more money here.
The first was rather menacing, and must have been directed towards the English-speaking readers of the Shenzhen Daily. On August 6, the headline at the top of the front page read "370 illegal expats repatriated." The article went on to describe how the local police would continue to target Filipina domestic workers since absolutely none of them have been permitted to work in Shenzhen.
Bian [deputy chief of the entry and exit administration of the Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Bureau]also said all of the Filipino domestic helpers working in Shenzhen are here illegally because they haven’t received employment certificates in China.
“They were generally introduced to the mainland by domestic housekeeping firms and overseas agents,” he said.
If found, Filipino housemaids will be ordered to leave the city within a certain time and fined 1,000 yuan (US$132) each, and their employers will be fined 5,000 to 50,000 yuan and have to pay the repatriation fees, Bian confirmed.
I have no idea if this is a toothless threat or something that should be feared. This week I've seen women I recognize from the English Mass and the playground all over Shekou.
In contrast, a few days later in Hong Kong's South China Morning Post ran an article about the increased demand for Filipina domestics throughout urban China. In the article "Demand soars for Filipino domestics" (paid subscription only)
The demand for Filipino domestic workers has expanded in mainland cities, especially in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, where many expatriates and Hong Kong people live.
To meet the demand, many agencies have applied for "private English tutor" visas for Filipino maids, according to media reports.
But the maids' popularity has led to warnings of a crackdown against foreigners working illegally.
Qi Xiaolin , deputy director of the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau, said yesterday that the immigration authorities had caught many foreigners working illegally in the city.
snip
The mainland's Labour Law allows for only two kinds of foreigners to be employed - professionals and staff who do jobs that cannot be filled from the domestic labour market.
Beijing is grappling with an excess of labour, with a particular surplus in the domestic staff market and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security has stressed that it will not open the country to foreign housemaids.
But the founder of one Guangzhou Filipino housemaid agency said the mainland's domestic helpers could not compete with their counterparts from the tropical archipelago, even though overseas staff were paid up to 3,500 yuan a month, more than three times the rate given to mainlanders.
A lot of the Filipina domestics I know from church and playground do work for foreign families that are not native English speakers. Since all of the international schools in Shenzhen instruct primarily in English, all of the kids must be proficient in English. When one Norwegian woman found out I didn't have any kind of nanny, she reasoned it was because my son didn't need to learn English to go to school here.
And the pay for Filipinas is interesting compared not only to what Chinese domestics make here (4000 RMB as opposed to 1000), but also compared to what they make in Hong Kong. I wondered why they would come over to the mainland instead of working in Hong Kong (where we always assume everything is better) and it turns out the minimum wage for domestics in Hong Kong is less than HK$1000 per month. They make much, much more money here.
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