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Foreign caregivers underpaid, work too long: survey

Half of the 150,000 foreign caregivers currently in Taiwan are underqualified, work excessive overtime hours and receive salaries and social benefits that are not commensurate with the work they do, according to a survey conducted by the International Action and Cooperation Team (iACT).

In view of the results of the survey, academics are now calling on the government to review the current system and reduce their workloads.

interviews

iACT interviewed a total of 481 Taiwanese and foreign caregivers working in five institutional settings -- large hospitals in southern, central and northern Taiwan and care centers and agencies cooperating with these hospitals.

A close comparison between foreign and local staff showed that the situation for foreign caregivers is worse than for Taiwanese, that depression is common and that the actual situation may be worse than previously thought.

Yang Chen-chang (楊振昌), the director of iACT and associate professor in the Department of Internal Medicine in Yang Ming University's Faculty of Medicine, said that almost 60 percent of all foreign caregivers work more than 12 hours per day, but that the same applies to less than 30 percent of local caregivers.

Foreign caregivers also had a heavier workload, although that was not reflected in their salaries and social benefits, he added.

Yang said that duties were all-inclusive and tiring and that it was more common for foreign caregivers to suffer from headaches, dizziness and irregular menstrual cycles.

hard to adapt

He said that it was often difficult for foreign caregivers to adapt to life in Taiwan due to language difficulties, lack of opportunities to participate in social activities, not being accepted by society at large and having different living habits, which made it difficult to make new friends.

Although in general they are younger than local caregivers -- their average age being 31 compared with an average of 47 for local caregivers -- and better educated, foreign caregivers still have a lower quality of life and suffer from more illnesses than local caregivers, he said.

Almost 60 percent of foreign caregivers had no previous experience of working as a caregiver and almost 50 percent have never received relevant training, figures much higher than for local caregivers, Yang added.

Yang called on agencies to work to guarantee the rights of foreign caregivers, adjust employment systems, require a minimum amount of training before hiring and to conduct annual physical examinations and psychological evaluations, with provisions for counseling if necessary.
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