Late-career international migration and reproductive work. A comparison between Peruvian and Ukrainian women in the Southern Europe

  1. Vianello, Francesca Alice 1
  2. Escrivá, Angeles 2
  1. 1 University of Padua
    info

    University of Padua

    Padua, Italia

    ROR https://ror.org/00240q980

  2. 2 Universidad de Huelva
    info

    Universidad de Huelva

    Huelva, España

    ROR https://ror.org/03a1kt624

Journal:
Investigaciones feministas

ISSN: 2171-6080

Year of publication: 2016

Issue Title: Monográfico: Género, migraciones y transformaciones de la reproducción social y de los cuidados en la Europa del Sur

Volume: 7

Issue: 1

Pages: 89-113

Type: Article

DOI: 10.5209/REV_INFE.2016.V7.N1.52104 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen access editor

More publications in: Investigaciones feministas

Sustainable development goals

Abstract

Research on the relationship between reproductive work and women´s life trajectories including the experience of labour migration has mainly focused on the case of relatively young mothers who leave behind, or later re-join, their children. While it is true that most women migrate at a younger age, there are a significant number of cases of men and women who move abroad for labour purposes at a more advanced stage, undertaking a late-career migration. This is still an under-estimated and under-researched sub-field that uncovers a varied range of issues, including the global organization of reproductive work and the employment of migrant women as domestic workers late in their lives. By pooling the findings of two qualitative studies, this article focuses on Peruvian and Ukrainian women who seek employment in Spain and Italy when they are well into their forties, or older. A commonality the two groups of women share is that, independently of their level of education and professional experience, more often than not they end up as domestic and care workers. The article initially discusses the reasons for late-career female migration, taking into consideration the structural and personal determinants that have affected Peruvian and Ukrainian women’s careers in their countries of origin and settlement. After this, the focus is set on the characteristics of domestic employment at later life, on the impact on their current lives, including the transnational family organization, and on future labour and retirement prospects. Apart from an evaluation of objective working and living conditions, we discuss women’s personal impressions of being domestic workers in the context of their occupational experiences and family commitments. In this regard, women report varying levels of personal and professional satisfaction, as well as different patterns of continuity-discontinuity in their work and family lives, and of optimism towards the future. Divergences could be, to some extent, explained by the effect of migrants´ transnational social practices and policies of states.

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