IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i10p6224-d820018.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Informality, Social Citizenship, and Wellbeing among Migrant Workers in Costa Rica in the Context of COVID-19

Author

Listed:
  • Mathieu J. P. Poirier

    (School of Global Health, Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
    Global Strategy Lab, Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada)

  • Douglas Barraza

    (Health Section, Central American Institute for Studies on Toxic Substances, Universidad Nacional, Heredia 41101, Costa Rica
    Coordinación de Docencia, Universidad Técnica Nacional, San Carlos 21001, Costa Rica)

  • C. Susana Caxaj

    (School of Nursing, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B9, Canada)

  • Ana María Martínez

    (York International & Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada)

  • Julie Hard

    (Faculty of Health, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada)

  • Felipe Montoya

    (Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada)

Abstract

Costa Rica is home to 557,000 migrants, whose disproportionate exposure to precarious, dangerous, and informal work has resulted in persistent inequities in health and wellbeing in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We used a novel multimodal grounded approach synthesizing documentary film, experiential education, and academic research to explore socioecological wellbeing among Nicaraguan migrant workers in Costa Rica. Participants pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic as exacerbating the underlying conditions of vulnerability, such as precarity and informality, dangerous working conditions, social and systemic discrimination, and additional burdens faced by women. However, the narrative that emerged most consistently in shaping migrants’ experience of marginalization were challenges in obtaining documentation—both in the form of legal residency and health insurance coverage. Our results demonstrate that, in spite of Costa Rica’s acclaimed social welfare policies, migrant workers continue to face exclusion due to administrative, social, and financial barriers. These findings paint a rich picture of how multiple intersections of precarious, informal, and dangerous working conditions; social and systemic discrimination; gendered occupational challenges; and access to legal residency and health insurance coverage combine to prevent the full achievement of a shared minimum standard of social and economic security for migrant workers in Costa Rica.

Suggested Citation

  • Mathieu J. P. Poirier & Douglas Barraza & C. Susana Caxaj & Ana María Martínez & Julie Hard & Felipe Montoya, 2022. "Informality, Social Citizenship, and Wellbeing among Migrant Workers in Costa Rica in the Context of COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-14, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:10:p:6224-:d:820018
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/10/6224/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/10/6224/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carlos Colindres & Amy Cohen & C. Susana Caxaj, 2021. "Migrant Agricultural Workers’ Health, Safety and Access to Protections: A Descriptive Survey Identifying Structural Gaps and Vulnerabilities in the Interior of British Columbia, Canada," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-15, April.
    2. C. Susana Caxaj & Amy Cohen, 2019. "“I Will Not Leave My Body Here”: Migrant Farmworkers’ Health and Safety Amidst a Climate of Coercion," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(15), pages 1-14, July.
    3. Carlos Colindres & Amy Cohen & C. Susana Caxaj, 2021. "Correction: Colindres et al. Migrant Agricultural Workers’ Health, Safety and Access to Protections: A Descriptive Survey Identifying Structural Gaps and Vulnerabilities in the Interior of British Col," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-1, September.
    4. Andreas Neef, 2020. "Legal and social protection for migrant farm workers: lessons from COVID-19," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(3), pages 641-642, September.
    5. Gordon Anderson & Lucy Kenner, 2019. "Enhancing the effectiveness of minimum employment standards in New Zealand," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 30(3), pages 345-365, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Leah F. Vosko & Tanya Basok & Cynthia Spring & Guillermo Candiz & Glynis George, 2022. "Understanding Migrant Farmworkers’ Health and Well-Being during the Global COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada: Toward a Transnational Conceptualization of Employment Strain," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-19, July.
    2. Alex Zhou & Abdelhady Osman & Genesis Flores & Dhuvaraha Srikrishnaraj & Jayashree Mohanty & Retage Al Bader & Amy Llancari & Aya El-Hashemi & Manahel Elias & Kanza Mirza & Maureen Muldoon & Ryan Pala, 2023. "Critical Illness in Migrant Workers in the Windsor-Essex Region: A Descriptive Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(16), pages 1-11, August.
    3. Filippo Oncini, 2021. "Food support provision in COVID-19 times: a mixed method study based in Greater Manchester," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(4), pages 1201-1213, December.
    4. Chenarides, Lauren & Richards, Timothy & Rickard, Bradley, 2021. "COVID-19 Impact on Fruit and Vegetable Markets: One Year Later," Working Papers 309965, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    5. Fabiola M. Perez-Lua & Alec M. Chan-Golston & Nancy J. Burke & Maria-Elena De Trinidad Young, 2023. "The Influence of Organizational Aspects of the U.S. Agricultural Industry and Socioeconomic and Political Conditions on Farmworkers’ COVID-19 Workplace Safety," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(23), pages 1-19, December.
    6. Makuvaro, V & Maparara, T & Mukarati, J & Chandiposha, M & Chivizhe, J & Abel, S, 2023. "Effects Of Covid-19 On Urban And Peri-Urban Farmers In Central Zimbabwe," African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND), African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND), vol. 23(6), June.
    7. Carlos Colindres & Amy Cohen & C. Susana Caxaj, 2021. "Migrant Agricultural Workers’ Health, Safety and Access to Protections: A Descriptive Survey Identifying Structural Gaps and Vulnerabilities in the Interior of British Columbia, Canada," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-15, April.
    8. Simona Zollet & Luca Colombo & Paola De Meo & Davide Marino & Steven R. McGreevy & Nora McKeon & Simona Tarra, 2021. "Towards Territorially Embedded, Equitable and Resilient Food Systems? Insights from Grassroots Responses to COVID-19 in Italy and the City Region of Rome," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-24, February.
    9. Cosma, Valer Simion & Ban, Cornel & Gabor, Daniela, 2020. "The Human Cost of Fresh Food: Romanian Workers and Germany's Food Supply Chains," Review of Agrarian Studies, Foundation for Agrarian Studies, vol. 10(2), December.
    10. Lioutas, Evagelos D. & Charatsari, Chrysanthi, 2021. "Enhancing the ability of agriculture to cope with major crises or disasters: What the experience of COVID-19 teaches us," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    11. Dionysis Bochtis & Lefteris Benos & Maria Lampridi & Vasso Marinoudi & Simon Pearson & Claus G. Sørensen, 2020. "Agricultural Workforce Crisis in Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-13, October.
    12. Abel, S & Mupaso, N & Mukarati, J & Le Roux, P, 2023. "Effects Of Covid-19 On Smallholder Tobacco Farmers In Zimbabwe," African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND), African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND), vol. 23(5), May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:10:p:6224-:d:820018. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.