The bordering of care: How exclusions from family support programs impact undocumented mothers and their young children in Canada

Many parents in Canada rely on public family support programs during the early childhood period, including parental leave benefits, childcare subsidies, and the Canada Child Benefit. Parents who are undocumented, however, cannot access these social programs. Drawing on a policy review and interviews with undocumented mothers and service providers, this paper explores the impacts of welfare-state bordering - the legal and administrative barriers that prevent undocumented mothers from accessing family support programs. Participant experiences reveal how bordering contributes to family poverty and material hardship, and children's exclusion from early childhood education opportunities. Welfare-state bordering makes mothers dependent on others for their family's material survival, heightening mothers’ risk of exposure to gender-based violence and exploitation. Undocumented mothers’ experiences are analyzed through a feminist social reproduction lens to show how both their reproductive and productive labour is discounted within the current policy context. Findings highlight the need for policy changes to expand access to the Canada Child Benefit and childcare subsidies to uphold the human rights of undocumented mothers and their children.