Investigator on the beach about half mile from the research site, a children's park in the South Bay

Introduction rewrite

International migration among women has grown at a higher rate than male migration over the last 20 years. In Latin America, women now represent 50.5% of migrants, a new historical marker in which female migration assumes a more important economic role in the global economy (Ramirez, Dominguez, and Morais 2005:4). Previous analyses of immigrant labor market outcomes in the U.S. have focused on the economic performance of men. In contrast, this study examines female Latin American immigrants as they perform childcare in American homes, while maintaining strong ties of reciprocity and solidarity with families and communities of origin. Through their monetary, social, and collective contributions, remittances, I will link US migration policy, security doctrine, and global capitalism to the experiences of transnational nannies in Southern California, and prove that they now function as primary economic providers for their families.

“I want to pay taxes, to put things in order.”

Olga is anxious to acquire proof she is working and paying taxes in order to gain citizenship. Her employer claims it is “too much paperwork.” Olga shares her home with her three children, husband, sister-in-law and neice. House payments total $1400 monthly. Ten years ago when she worked for a factory, taxes and social security were deducted from her paycheck. She wants to pay taxes again so “I will have money when I’m 70.” The IRS sends a letter every year asking about employment. I gave her Form 1099 and 1096 printed instructions from my accountant and the internet, and when I saw her next several months later, she smiled broadly. Her employer had given her a raise and some clerical work in the home office, and began to pay taxes. Olga was elated.

Nanny gender issues come with economic independence

Olga (not her real name) went to school in El Salvador for nine years, the closest thing to a high school degree. She has lived in California for 14 years and now wants to return to school, but her husband doesn’t support this. He is from Mexico and according to Olga, he does not believe education is important for her personally or professionally. He told her, “ My children need you. You cook, you clean, be there for them.” He doesn’t care about education and neither do his brothers. It was very different in Olga’s family.
"My sister is a grad student and another is an RN, a nurse. My brother works for the organization, Working for Food, and he’s a technician. We like education. I think it’s good to improve and make more money… I like taking my kids to the library, and to read at night. But my husband, he doesn’t do this. He doesn’t value education. I told him I can go to school at night, then I’ll make more money. No, he doesn’t want me out of the house. Machista! That’s what we call them (macho men from Mexico.)"
Olga proudly points out she makes as much as her husband working in a clothes factory. She enjoys economic equality but not equal rights within the home. She shook her head in frustration.

How the job description grows but not the salary

Annthro: Do you do any housecleaning? “Light housekeeping?”
Alicia (not her real name): "Nooo, well that’s a problem, that’s not a very good job of cleaning, then they complain it’s not clean enough. Then you do a bad job of child care and cleaning."

"In our culture (Guatemala) they never teach you how to defend yourself, how to stand up for yourself, your rights. Here, they want you to be a childcare provider and also you are a housekeeper. It’s two separate jobs and you get paid for one. The employer asked me to come and clean while they were gone on vacation. But I said I need a rest. I’ll do it when I get back. I explain, I show her the human side. I do things with human value. The kids are important. They are the future of this country. I do that job. I don’t get paid for all the off hours stuff like taking to sports practices, music lessons. But this is how I do my part for this country."

Light housekeeping starts when the baby is small. "It’s bad because it starts when the baby is cute and sweet and sleeps a lot,” so there is time to clean a little here and there. Then they stop sleeping so much and the nanny has a lot of work because now the employer expects it.

Sotelo, Rivera, and others have noted exploitation like this among workers who do paid domestic work one-on-one in private homes. However, Alicia is experienced and tries to educate others.

Alicia: "When other women say, 'She makes me do this, do that,' I say no, you speak up. Don’t fight back and be aggressive. All these ladies are very resentful, saying, 'These ladies are lazy…' They resent the employers but they need the job, but they don’t know the right behavior. The nannies suffer from the employer but they need the work, for example, when they are waiting for the employer to come home and she is late. Are you happy with how your employer treats you? Do you have food to eat? Do you tell her how you feel at your work? Tell her. If the house is clean, the employer is happy. But the kids should come first. It’s nannies who know this, not the mothers."

Other nannies in my study noted that employers say the children should come first, but often expect cleaning to be done too. It can compromise the children, but most likely it compromises the employee. During a lull or naptime when the nanny could take a break or rest, she must do the housework without complaint.

What it's like for the children

Geralda works 45 hours/wk. caring for two children. Their mother and father work full time outside the home. Geralda and I talked about her life as a twin growing up in Guatemala. This is not her real name. "We were born when my mother was 16. She was too young and could not raise us so we were brought up by my grandmother. My mother was around, but she didn't treat us like a mother, more like a sister. That's why I understand what it's like for the children [I care for] to not have their mother around because she is working, I understand and I help them with it."

Here Geralda refers to the client child who confided in her, "I spend more time with you than my mother." Most nannies try to assuage his or her guilty feelings. But the nannies I spoke with often choose to say nothing of these fears to the child's mother, because it may result in job loss. They handle it as best they can. Gerarda said gently, "Your mother is thinking about you right now. She is doing very important things at work. She looked for someone very special to be with you. Because I am very expensive!"

Geralda is well-qualified to address issues when both parents work, because she had no mother when she was young, and missed her very much. She later said, "My mother left us...She wasn't around, then she had another family. She didn't act like a mom, more like a sister... Later I talked to her about it when I was grown. My mother asked for forgiveness."

Is Geralda's exemplary emotional care appreciated by her employer? Geralda: "She is ok with how I talk to the kids, treat the kids. But when we are alone with each other, we clash. We are different types of women. She is controlling."

"Also I try to tell the Latinas who have left their children behind in their countries that they shouldn't. It is terrible for the kids. They grow up without their mothers and they feel alone, and eventually they feel nothing. Then resentment, hatred. It's not a good way to grow up. And when they get to be 20s or 30s, they come here [to the US] and they don't feel attached, they join gangs."

"Many women left children in home countries with a grandmother. Grandmothers send letters like this--I've seen them--'If you don't send money, we are going to put your child on the street!' I don't trust grandmas, and I don't trust aunts!"