Paper short abstract:

Living in transnational families can be both rewarding and challenging for the caregivers of the children that are left behind. This paper looks at the impact of migration on caregivers and how this is experienced by female and male caregivers.

Paper long abstract:

Studies on transnational families especially in Latin America and parts of Asia have looked at the experiences of migrant mothers and fathers and the children they leave behind ( Hondagneu-Sotelo and Avila 1997; Schmalzbauer 2004; Parrenas 2005; Dankyi 2012). To date however, there has been little focus on the perspective of the caregivers of the children they leave behind. This paper adds to the growing body of literature (Dreby, 2006; Moran-Taylor 2008) on the experiences of caregivers in transnational families Impact of migration on caregivers are both positive (financial support, gifts, from migrants and their children, fulfillment etc) and adverse (loss of jobs, strain on one's income, ruined relationships etc). In this paper, I argue that the extent to which these impacts are experienced by the caregivers is predominantly shaped by their gender, how they are related to the child (ren), their socio economic status, the gender and age of the child (ren) they raise.

This study is part of a larger research called the TCRA project which looks at the effects of transnational child-raising arrangements on life-chances of children, migrant parents and caregivers in Ghana and The Netherlands. I draw on data from a Simultaneous Matched Sample (SMS) methodology employed by the TCRA project. With the SMS, migrant parents in the Netherlands and their children and caregivers (14 triads) in Ghana were simultaneously were followed from July 2011 to July 2012. It is supported with interviews with 17 caregivers that are not part of the matched triads.