ABSTRACT
This paper is about women’s work in the context of fast socio-
economic change.
Drawing from feminist analyses on women’s work
and the care sector, it highlights the link between women’s paid
employment and the supply of low-paid immigrant (female) labour in
Greece in the sphere of care provision. It examines three issues:
First, the acceleration of women’s involvement in the paid labour
force after 1990.Second, the parallel influx of immigrants in Greece
–half of whom are female (of which, half are involved in service
provision for households). And third, the “big picture” of the demand
for care (both paid and unpaid, childcare as well as care for the
elderly) in the context of ageing and rising female participation in
paid work. The analysis highlights the key contribution of migrant
women acting as catalysts for social change, the ‘
deae ex machina’ ofthe story.