Childcare by migrant nannies and migrant grannies: A critical discourse analysis of new policy solutions for securing reproductive labor in Australian households

Migrant nannies (au pairs) and migrant grannies (migrant grandparents) have emerged in Australian policy and public discourses as new “solutions” to the “problems” of unmet needs for reproductive labor in households and the under-utilization of working-aged Australian women in the workforce. Despite their similarities – both are pitched as sources of extended or fictive kin for the provision of childcare – these two classes of migrants are rarely thought about together. Using a critical discourse analysis of policy and media documents between 2013 and 2019, this article examines how debates concerning migrant nannies and migrant grannies are framed and explores the implications for the distribution of reproductive labor. Findings reveal new directions in the distribution of reproductive labor to fictive and extended migrant kin and highlight the importance of an intersectional approach to understanding the complex interactions not only between gender, class, migration status, and ethnicity but also age in new articulations of Australia's work-care regime.