Toronto Centre for Global Social Policy (CGSP)

The current major research project at the Centre investigates how the reorganization of care is influencing care workers’ international migration, and how this relates to gender equality and social development.

As Principal Investigator of this 5-year project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, I am thrilled to team up with researchers from universities in Canada, the US, Asia and Europe, as well as with policymakers, local, national, and global organizations, think tanks, NGOs, and labour organizations.

Together, we investigate important questions concerning care that affect and connect people and families around the globe.

Our aim is to understand and analyze causes and consequences of global care migration, and to develop effective local, national, and international policies.

The issue of care is a concern not only for wealthy countries in the global North, where the demand for care continues to outpace the supply of care workers. This demand – combined with lack of employment and opportunity in home countries and governments’ interest in generating income through remittances – creates powerful incentives for women from the South to migrate as care workers, often leaving their families and children behind.

These dynamics have resulted in “global care chains” that draw women from poorer nations to wealthier ones, creating not only “care deficits” but also a “care drain” in sending countries. New forms of gender and global inequalities are emerging. How can policies help ensure that needs are met – for care and employment – without increasing inequality?