Transnational Life - Imposition or Gain for Children?

Our paper draws from the results of a German-Polish research project, focussing on the question of how children in Poland perceive and evaluate transnational family arrangements. The data is based on a grounded theory analysis of 27 group discussions with children aged 12 - 14 (with and without personal experience of migrating parents).

While in the Polish media the (temporary) labour migration of mothers in particular is dubbed with the neologism ‘Euro-orphans’, thus marking the non-existence of a family, the children interpret temporary migration under specific conditions as a legitimate family strategy. In addition to the impositions that transnational family life presents from the child's perspective and the possible family strategies for dealing with them, our analysis also shows how transnational family life can be understood as a resource. We want to work out the latter in our presentation with a focus on two aspects: 1) Transnational families are spaces in which images and knowledge of abroad are conveyed and shaped, for example through parents' stories, the stayer children's own experiences of mobility, or the things parents bring with them. 2) Transnational family experiences are relevant for children’s „emotional geographies“, which play into their construction of current as well as future self-positionings and perspectives. We interpret our findings in light of the specific structure of the transnational space in Europe, including the legal framework within the EU, the geographical proximity between Poland and the country of work, and the generational and gender-specific orders of their societies of origin. These structures shape transnational family life and, as a result, the images of abroad and the location of children in the transnational space. Our paper wishes to expand the research on the implications of growing up transnationally and offers a differentiated analysis of its costs and benefits for children.