The employment of migrant workers in long-term care: dynamics of choice and control

The employment of migrant workers in long-term care is increasingly evident across western welfare states. This article examines the ways in which immigration controls shape the exercising of choice and control by migrant care workers over their labour. It draws on the findings of in-depth interviews with migrant care workers employed by residential and home care providers and by older people and their families in the UK. It is argued that the differential rights accorded to migrants on the basis of citizenship and immigration status shape, first, entry into particular types of care work, second, powers of ‘exit’ within work, and, third, ‘voice’ regarding the conditions under which care labour is provided.