Live-in or locked-out: housing of migrant workers before and during COVID-19

This article presents a comparative policy analysis of housing arrangements for migrant caregivers and farmworkers before and during COVID-19. By Juxtaposing structural conditions and industrial sectors, we explore the link between housing and labour migration regime, analysing its implications on migrant workers’ living conditions. Despite substantial differences in housing arrangements, prioritising employers’ needs and ethnonational values over migrant workers’ well-being and rights places migrant workers in both sectors at risk of exploitation. Crisis conditions, such as COVID-19, exacerbate the vulnerability of migrant workers to exploitation. By unpacking the repercussions of disparities between official rights-based housing policy and their implementation, this article seeks to contribute to the literature on the intersection between labour migration and housing policies. Rooted in a structural perspective on labour exploitation, we argue that bridging these disparities and preventing exploitation, while improving migrant workers’ living conditions, requires policymakers to address power imbalances between employers and migrant workers.