Song, M. (1995) Children's labour in ethnic family businesses: the case of Chinese take-away businesses in Britain. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 20 (4). pp. 690-716. ISSN 0141-9870 .
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Abstract
Reliance upon unpaid and committed family labour is said to make many ethnic businesses competitive. However, most analysts' references to this labour have not taken into account the nature of family members' and, in particular, children's work roles or the ways in which their labour is elicited and maintained. Here, the nature of children's labour participation in ethnic businesses is investigated in the case of families running Chinese take-away businesses in Britain. This article focuses on how children in these families understand their often double-edged experiences of 'helping out', as part of a 'family work contract', and on the ways in which families negotiate children's labour over time. Given these families' experiences of migration and ethnic minority status, I argue that Chinese children's work in take-away businesses must be examined in relation to the intersections of family obligations and relationships, livelihood strategies and pressures, and issues of cultural identity.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races |
| Divisions: | Faculties > Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation > Social and Cultural Anthropology |
| Depositing User: | T.J. Sango |
| Date Deposited: | 12 May 2009 09:42 |
| Last Modified: | 12 May 2009 09:42 |
| Resource URI: | http://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/17969 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes) |
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