Maid in America

Hosted by
Middle class families are becoming employers of cheap labor, hiring others to do housework their parents used to do themselves. Such domestics free their employers from many mundane but physically demanding chores, allowing them to develop an identity independent of family members. Such suburban homes and downtown apartments have replaced inner city factories as a starting point for immigrant workers. We explore the personal and professional nature of such relationships, their social cost, and affect on children with a working mother, sociologist, domestics and an immigration reformer. Newsmaker: Middle East Violence Continues - US Secretary of State Colin Powell calls for an end to Middle East violence as Israeli fires on a factory it claims makes mortars and Palestinians say makes auto parts. Maurius Deeb, of John's Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, explains what makes the violence acceptable to both sides, and the unlikely prospects for peace. Reporter's Notebook: Kennedy Library Honors Gerald Ford - With his pardon of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford probably lost his chance to be elected president in his own right. Now, Ford is being honored as a "Profile in Courage." Stephen Hess, who worked for the Carter, Ford, Nixon and Eisenhower Administrations, talks about the "most decent man to hold the presidency since William Howard Taft."
Middle class families are becoming employers of cheap labor, hiring others to do housework their parents used to do themselves. Such domestics free their employers from many mundane but physically demanding chores, allowing them to develop an identity independent of family members. Such suburban homes and downtown apartments have replaced inner city factories as a starting point for immigrant workers. We explore the personal and professional nature of such relationships, their social cost, and affect on children with a working mother, sociologist, domestics and an immigration reformer.
  • Newsmaker: Middle East Violence Continues - US Secretary of State Colin Powell calls for an end to Middle East violence as Israeli fires on a factory it claims makes mortars and Palestinians say makes auto parts. Maurius Deeb, of John's Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, explains what makes the violence acceptable to both sides, and the unlikely prospects for peace.
  • Reporter's Notebook: Kennedy Library Honors Gerald Ford - With his pardon of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford probably lost his chance to be elected president in his own right. Now, Ford is being honored as a "Profile in Courage." Stephen Hess, who worked for the Carter, Ford, Nixon and Eisenhower Administrations, talks about the "most decent man to hold the presidency since William Howard Taft."

Domestica: Immigrant Workers Cleaning and Caring in the Shadows of Affluence

Federation for American Immigration Reform

John F. Kennedy Library

Nitze School of Advanced International Studies

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney