The Legalization of Rotational 24-hour Care Work in Austria: Implications for Migrant Care Workers

Migrant care work in private households has become an important, but often illegal source of long-term care provision in several European countries. The 2007 reform of “24-hour care work” in Austria was a comprehensive attempt to regularize previously illegal arrangements. Building on in-depth interviews with migrant care workers from Slovakia and Bulgaria, this article explores the impacts of the legalization for their decisions to work in this sector, for social protection, career plans, and working conditions. It is argued that the reform was successful in terms of take-up and providing social protection, while career and working conditions remain highly precarious.