Migración circular y trabajo de cuidado: fragmentación de trayectorias laborales de migrantes bolivianas en Tarapacá

Abstract

In the Tarapacá Region of Chile, Bolivian migrant women are frequently hired as domestic workers to provide care for children or the elderly. Favored by current legislation and geographic proximity, Bolivian nationals engage in circular migration in a three-month cycle. Migrant women do not seek to put down roots in Chile, but instead migrate temporarily and repetitively. This article analyzes the labor histories of these circular migrants based on interviews conducted in the city of Iquique. There is a high level of fragmentation in their labor history, mainly due to non-payment of salaries, long workdays and mistreatment by employers. It is concluded in first place, that circular migration of care workers implies high personal and familiar costs for these migrant women, as it produces great uncertainty and the possibility to extend -unnecessary- the migration season. In second place, it is established the need to formulate specific migration public policies for this workers.