2 in 10 foreign domestic workers in Singapore vulnerable to mental health issues: study
Foreign domestic workers in Singapore are susceptible to poor mental health, says a study by the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME).
In a study that is the first of its kind in Singapore, HOME surveyed 670 foreign domestic workers (FDWs) and gathered that two out of 10 workers have poor mental health.
“There are clear correlations between FDWs’ mental health issues and exploitative and/or abusive working and living conditions,” said the study.
Some participants of the study experienced psychological symptoms such as psychoticism (state of “losing contact with reality”), depression, and feeling inadequate or inferior.
Abusive working and living conditions, such as language-related communication barriers, and verbal and psychical abuse, can be detrimental to a foreign domestic worker’s psychological well-being.
Results from the study indicated that half of the participants experienced some form of verbal abuse, mainly in the form of scolding or nagging.
The study sought to answer questions such as the working and living conditions of foreign domestic workers in Singapore, how prevalent mental health problems were, and to establish the relationship between foreign domestic workers’ social circumstances and mental well-being.
HOME collected data from 670 employed maids from Indonesia, the Philippines and Myanmar — the three major sending countries – with an average age of 33.
Participants answered a questionnaire that assessed their individual characteristics, such as their views on their working and living conditions. Social circumstances were also taken into account.
Recommendations
To better protect the foreign domestic workers population in Singapore, the study recommends some things that key people involved can do to ensure the well-being of the domestic workers.
Foreign domestic workers are encouraged to be more proactive and to approach friends, families and organisations like HOME for help when experiencing homesickness, family concerns or when they feel that they have a mental health issue. They should also learn the language of their employer.
Singapore employers can also do their part by learning some useful phrases of the native language of their foreign domestic workers, maintaining open channels of communication and try to treat their helpers with respect at all times. Employers should also ensure that their helpers have full weekly rest days and limit working hours during working days.
The study added that the results had limitations as the data gathered was based on a preselected group of foreign domestic workers, which could lead to a selection bias. The study was also one-sided from the domestic workers’ point of view, with no cross-references from employers or employment agencies.
