Unequal networks: Comparing the pre-migration overseas networks of Indonesian and Filipino migrant domestic workers

Abstract

Previous studies of Asian migrant domestic workers’ pre-migration over-seas networks have tended to be ethnographic, small-n case studies such that it is unclear if network differences between migrants are due to individual- or country-level differences or both. This article draws from an original survey of 1,206 Filipino and Indonesian domestic workers in Singapore and Hong Kong to reveal statistically significant differences in the pre-migration overseas networks of these two nationality groups even after controlling for migrants’ educational attainment, marital status, employment status, age, year of first migration, and survey location. Multiple regression analysis highlights how Filipino respondents are more likely than Indonesian respondents to have known existing migrants prior to their first migration from their homeland. Filipino respondents’ overseas networks are also significantly larger, more geographically dispersed, and comprise more white-collar contacts. These findings open up new terrain for migration scholars to study the impact of these nationality-based network differences on the two groups’ divergent migration experiences and aspirations.