More Traditional Division of Labour Due to Migration? the Effect of E-/Re- and Onmigration on Arrangements of Paid and Unpaid Work Among Internationally Mobile German Parents

The arrangement of paid and unpaid work among parents is an important indicator of gender equality and has far-reaching consequences for the individual’s life courses, including dependencies between the two partners and later life outcomes (e.g. pension entitlements). With the economic consequences of international migration being highly gendered, also the division of paid and unpaid labour might change in the course of migration. Importantly, migration is not one-directional; and emigration might be followed by remigration or onmigration. Given that these different types of migration are gendered differently (e.g. emigration tends to benefit the male partner’s career but remigration appears more female-dominated), the consequences of migration might depend on the direction of migration. In this context, this presentation aims to answer the following research questions: How do families (re)arrange paid and unpaid work after migration? And are there differences by migration direction (emigration, remigration or onmigration)? Theoretical considerations are based on the life course approach. To understand the division of labour in more depth, these considerations are complemented by New Home Economics, bargaining theory, and gender role approaches. To empirically assess these theoretical considerations, two longitudinal data sources are combined: the German Emigration and Remigration Panel Study, assessing internationally mobile Germans, and pairfam, covering its non-mobile counterparts in Germany. Selection into migration is accounted for by applying Entropy Balancing, and multi-level models are estimated to consider potential country differences. Three different outcomes are considered: parental leave, paid working hours, and the division of different unpaid work tasks (e.g. house work, child care). Results reveal differences by gender, migration direction and outcome measures. These findings appear relevant as – for some family-migration-constellations – even in the context of privileged migration from a rather egalitarian society, the arrangements of paid and unpaid work become more traditional after international migration.