ODI Global
Elizabeth at home in Madrid, Spain
Elizabeth moved to Spain eight years ago. She is a migrant from La Paz, Bolivia, where her five children still live. She couldn't make ends meet to provide her children with an education, and so felt she had to leave.
The first time she moved to Europe, she came illegally and was arrested in France and deported. She spent a few weeks in a French detention centre, which she remembers as being like a prison. It was 'like in the movies,' she said. 'Much worse than those here [in Spain].'
Since the early 2000s, Latin American domestic workers have constituted the largest migrant group in Spain, and the largest number of these come from Bolivia. This pattern of migration is a relatively new phenomenon that started after 2000. It is partly the result of ‘demographic collapse’ – there are fewer adults to undertake household chores and to care for the elderly and children – and is also facilitated by transnational migrant networks. Most migrants did not work in domestic service prior to migrating, and nearly half work in Madrid or Barcelona, the two largest cities.
Read more at odi.org/global-childcare-crisis
Photo: Álvaro Minguito ©ODI
Elizabeth at home in Madrid, Spain
Elizabeth moved to Spain eight years ago. She is a migrant from La Paz, Bolivia, where her five children still live. She couldn't make ends meet to provide her children with an education, and so felt she had to leave.
The first time she moved to Europe, she came illegally and was arrested in France and deported. She spent a few weeks in a French detention centre, which she remembers as being like a prison. It was 'like in the movies,' she said. 'Much worse than those here [in Spain].'
Since the early 2000s, Latin American domestic workers have constituted the largest migrant group in Spain, and the largest number of these come from Bolivia. This pattern of migration is a relatively new phenomenon that started after 2000. It is partly the result of ‘demographic collapse’ – there are fewer adults to undertake household chores and to care for the elderly and children – and is also facilitated by transnational migrant networks. Most migrants did not work in domestic service prior to migrating, and nearly half work in Madrid or Barcelona, the two largest cities.
Read more at odi.org/global-childcare-crisis
Photo: Álvaro Minguito ©ODI