To ease the guilt and to make up for their absence, the absentee parents shower their children with material things. Many children grow up spoiled, drop out of school or marry early. A number have become drug users, as pushers know that children of migrant workers are easy targets, since they have money but no adult or parental guidance. While legal protection and support mechanisms are available for migrant workers in Italy, the picture is not all that rosy. The most common problems related to domestic work arise from noncompliance with the law that guarantees equal rights to all documented workers originating from countries outside the European Economic Commission.
Some employers take advantage of irregular situations to avoid work contracts and withholding taxes.
Some employers also force longer work hours without corresponding compensation, or salaries lower than that received by Italian workers in equivalent work. In some cases, employers have fired their domestic helpers for getting pregnant. Another major concern is the inability of the migrants to assert that they are qualified to do other jobs, even if they hold college diplomas in the Philippines. However, Chato believes that it is also their fault, refusing for example to take language lessons even if these are available for free. Their reasoning is that other jobs are not available anyway, while entering domestic service is a surer opportunity.