Higher Wages Vs. Social and Legal Insecurity: Migrant Domestic Workers in Russia and Kazakhstan

This paper addresses the under-researched issue of migrant domestic work in post-Soviet space. There is an emerging trend of increase in the female share of migrants coming to Russia and Kazakhstan from Central Asia republics. The growing demand for domestic work could be an explanation of the feminization of migration in the region. Using the data of the research project conducted in 2013 in Russia and Kazakhstan, this paper investigates conditions of employment of female migrants in the domestic sector. We find that domestic sector work in the post-Soviet space is rather prestigious and well-paid, while at the same time, highly informal relationships and employment arrangements in this sector seem to satisfy both employers and workers. These findings highlight regional peculiarities of migrant domestic sector work and are important to better understand the feminization of migration within post-Soviet space.