Abstract
This article reports part of the findings of research undertaken between 2007 and 2009 that aimed to investigate the contribution made by migrant workers to the care workforce in England. The study involved analysis of national statistics on social care and social workers and semi-structured interviews with a wide range of stakeholders, including ninety six migrant care workers. The interviews elicited some accounts relating experiences of racism and discrimination from some people using social care services, employers, and UK-born care workers. This included directly racist comments and refusals to receive services from workers from a visibly different ethnicity alongside more subtle racism. The research highlights the different kinds of racism experienced by migrant care workers and the importance of the support they receive in terms of balancing their right to protection, managing the workforce, and respecting the choice of people using social care services.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to our team of interviewers and colleagues, and for the continuous support of the Social Care Workforce Research Unit advisory group. We thank all the participants in this study who took the time to talk to us and share their experiences. This research was funded by the Department of Health under the Social Care Workforce Research Initiative; views expressed are those of the authors and are not necessarily shared by the funder.
Notes
1. Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA); Social Services Abstracts (SSA); Sociological Abstracts (SA); Health Management Information Consortium (HMIC); Social Care Online (SCO); and narrative review.
2. The project was given research ethics approval by King’s College London and research governance approval from the six local authority research sites.