The vulnerability of Central & Eastern European and Zimbabwean migrant home care workers’ wellbeing in the UK: the intersectional effects of migration and social care systems

The UK welfare system and growth in social care escalate the demand for migrant care workers (MCWs) as a system-level intervention. However, the UK migration regime creates structural barriers and facilitators for different groups of MCWs. The nature of the UK migration and social care policies, combined with societal systems, including racism, affect the wellbeing of MCWs. This article addresses current literature gaps investigating the interplay of migration governance and social care systems’ effects on MCWs’ wellbeing. We utilise qualitative interviews collected from two groups of MCWs: Zimbabwean and Central East European migrants. These two groups have been subject to differentiated migration policies and societal perceptions during the data collection (2019), which coincided with the Brexit process. Data were analysed thematically guided by a wellbeing of care workers’ framework while allowing for new themes specific to the intersectionality of migration and social care systems to emerge. The analysis highlights that migration shapes MCWs’ wellbeing through two distinct mechanisms. First, the migration experience interacts with the same underlying factors that influence all care workers’ dimensions of wellbeing at work. Second, migration and the specific profile of migrant social care adds a new layer of factors that influence MCWs’ wellbeing in additional ways. The latter is affected by structural systems, such as the migration regime, and systemic challenges, such as the experience of inequalities and racism, exacerbated by the migration regime.