The Hopeful and Resilient Maids: Assessing the Life Satisfaction of Female Migrant Domestic Workers in Abu Dhabi

The prevailing argument regarding the quality of life of migrant domestic workers focuses on their vulnerabilities and the high risks of abuse, which ultimately have a detrimental impact on their well-being. However, there is a lack of quantitative evidence to support this argument. Using randomly sampled data from a large-scale survey of migrant domestic workers in Abu Dhabi, this study conducted hierarchical multiple regression to test for the direct effects of various predictors of life satisfaction of domestic workers. The results revealed a high level of life satisfaction among female migrant domestic workers, which was associated with emotional well-being, mental health, community identity, social support, awareness of local culture, and region of residence, but not with job-related variables and social relations related variables. Implications and limitations of this study were discussed.