From Patriarchy to Maternal Breadwinning: Shifting Roles and Gender Responsibilities in Romanian Transnational Families

In 2021, approximately 4 million Romanian migrants were living abroad (McAuliffe & Triandafyllidou, 2021), with women comprising over half of this population. According to the National Institute of Statistics (August 2024), as of 2023 women continue to represent the majority of Romanian emigrants (52.4%). This trend aligns with the broader concept of the “feminization of migration” (Castles et al., 2014; Treibel, 2008), which refers not only to the increasing presence of women in global migration flows, but also to changes in migration patterns influenced by expanding occupational sectors. While male-dominated labor migration has shifted towards more female participation, particularly in caregiving roles, this shift has also raised concerns about the stigmatization of women who leave their own families in the care of others to seek better economic opportunities abroad (Ambrosini, 2015; Baldassar, 2017).

Over the past two decades, mainstream media discourses and East-to-West European migration studies oftentimes framed Romanian women’s migration—particularly towards gendered labor markets—as economic. More recently, scholars have started to acknowledge and explore the diversity within this group, including urban and highly skilled female migrants. Despite the growing literature, there remains a lack of comparative analyses that evaluate broader motivations, expectations and everyday experiences of Romanian migrant women along their migratory trajectory. Drawing on ethnographic research and in-depth interviews conducted in Italy and France between 2013 and 2024, this paper explores gender dynamics and family roles in East-to-West migration. Thus, we investigate how the decision to leave or return home is shaped by familial circumstances and the interplay between the patriarchal societal structure and the modern role of female breadwinners abroad. Our diachronic analysis reveals that migratory trajectories, both imagined and experienced, are heavily influenced by family dynamics, leading to a significant redefinition of Romanian women’s roles within their families and broader society.