Doctoral Dissertation Research: Socioeconomic Variance in Labor and Family Responses to Globalization

Northwestern University, Evanston IL

Investigators

Abstract

Dario Valles, under the supervision of Dr. Micaela di Leonardo of Northwestern University, will explore how American workers and families adapt to the pressures of globalization, and how those responses might vary across a range of socioeconomic categories. The explosion of the global service sector, in tandem with women's increasing labor force participation, has resulted in a global "care deficit." This has resulted in the reorganization of households and the creation of new labor markets. This research examines why and how migrant family child care workers in global cities provide subcontracted care to young children of working parents. Family child care (FCC) has been selected as a point of inquiry as it has become one of the fastest growing occupations in the U.S., with an estimated 2.3 million workers and many more working informally. The researcher focuses on childcare providers who service women and families in low-wage service work, an important sample population as previous scientific studies have tended to focus on upper middle class and affluent families. The researcher will conduct 12 months of ethnographic research, using participant observation, interviews, life histories, material and discourse analyses, and archival and statistical data collection. Ethnographic inquiry into family child care is critical to the ways in which everyday household practices are entwined with social and political economic hierarchies, practices of affective care and labor and constructions of family. At the same time, the experiences of these providers offer insight into change in the face of rapid economic dislocations. This project will bring new light and dialogue around continued local and global socioeconomic inequalities, shifting social and cultural concepts, and transformations in the role of the state, and reveal how low-wage workers engage these realities through their labor, household, and socioeconomic practices. The U.S. is behind many countries in providing child care support for families with children. While other countries recognize the economic burden of child care, particularly for low-wage families, the U.S. does not been able to adequately address this child care deficit. The research will help policymakers understand the dynamics that can contribute to the maximization of labor productivity, thereby improving the economic competitiveness of the U.S. The project will also support the training of a graduate student.