Immigrant Women in Greece. A Biographical Study of Domestic Workers

The article discusses immigrant women arriving in Greece since 1990 from the Balkans and the former socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Immigrant women in Greece are usually domestic workers responding to the local population's needs for services connected mainly with children and the elderly. Using the biographical method based on life stories, the paper examines their actual position, their identity crisis and their status in relation to social welfare. The analysis concludes with the following observation: these women are vulnerable first as illegal immigrants and also because of the serious identity problem caused by the precariousness of their occupation.