Migrant care work is now part of the equation in solving the care deficit in many European countries. Care, especially for the elderly, is likely to represent a continuing challenge for Europe's fast ageing society, even more so in times of economic crisis, due to retrenchment of  social expenditure and related services. In this context, migrant women cannot but play a crucial role for the sustainability of care regimes, as widely acknowledged and discussed in the literature.

There is, however, a growing awareness of the heterogeneity and diversity in the forms of migrant labour in this sector:  Within these markets, the boundaries between formal and informal work are also often blurred: workers work informally and formally and sometimes for the same firm. Furthermore, migrant women do not only migrate as workers, but also as brides and family members, many of whom  end up  working in the care and domestic services sector. What has still to be explored is the link between different care and migration regimes, forms of employment in the care sector, and women’s trajectories of migration and access to rights. Why in certain countries do migrant women migrate as workers while in others they arrive primarily as brides of national citizens or family members? What are the different opportunities structures these women have to face in terms of access to employment and citizenship rights? This session intends to address these questions in order to advance the comparative study of care and migration regimes (Europe and non European countries).