Market Merits and Family Virtues: Family Caregivers in the Labor Market of Hong Kong

Abstract

When family-work balance arouses much attention in the modern world, there is increasing interest to understand how job seekers who need to take care of family members experience discrimination in the labor market. This study explores the gendered effects of family care responsibilities on employment outcomes of job candidates in Hong Kong, in the frameworks of market meritocracy and family moral virtuocracy. The authors adopt a mixed-methods research design and find that fathers and caregivers of ageing parents receive favorable evaluations and treatments in the combining power of market meritocracy and moral virtuocracy; mothers are evaluated as possessing market merits but are not favored in job offers. Sub-group analyses and qualitative data further demonstrate that market meritocracy fails to function for virtuous female caregivers in employment opportunities, largely due to structural and cultural barriers in the labor market, instead of stereotypes as often believed. This fundamental inequality needs to be addressed with policy interventions.