Transnational Families Migration and Immigration

Most readers of Children of Global Migration will be familiar with the main themes of Parreñas’s (2005) book. However, Parreñas offers unique insight into the intersection of gender and economic policy as well as gender and immigration policies. Population migration is not a new issue by any means, but the patterns of global migration continue to change as labor markets change. The situation with Philippine domestic workers is unique because many women leave their own children to take care of an employer’s children, while her husband hires a woman from a lower socio-economic rank to perform the gendered duties of housekeeping and childrearing. Gender roles are strict and immutable enough in the Philippines to prevent most men from simply assuming household or childrearing duties, even if the family could save money by doing so. When the mother is working abroad taking care of the employer’s children, her relationship with her own back in the Philippines often suffers. Unlike male labor, female labor is devalued and deemed unworthy of respect. If a father leaves his family for temporary work abroad, he is celebrated for his contributions to the family; when the mother does the same, she is shamed for leaving her kids to take care of another’s. This complex array of issues features gender as a pivotal issue in migration.
Parreñas discusses the impact of neoliberal global economic policies on migration decisions of females in poor/underdeveloped countries. The neoliberal policies effectively transformed the global labor market, making it easier and more attractive for workers of all social classes to find positions in receiving countries. Parreñas focuses on Philippine women in the caregiving sector, including domestic work but also healthcare. Often the domestic care sector is a grey market area, which presents its own set of challenges, as the migrant laborer might not enjoy the same legal or financial privileges she might have if she worked in the more official caregiving or healthcare sectors. Moreover, neoliberal policies are almost by definition fluid and responsive to market forces. They are not based on values, principles, or ethics. Should the market demand for female caregivers change, the workers would find themselves in a precarious situation and likely forced to return home. Caregivers also utilize the neoliberal economic policies in their favor, as they can send home remittances—usually the goal of the type of migrant labor Parreñas discusses.
Gender roles define which positions a person will take at home and, to a lesser degree, in the receiving country. Parreñas was disturbed at the rigid gender roles and hierarchies in Philippines. She quickly realizes that gender roles are immutable, which is why fathers do not take over the household or childcare duties when their wives work abroad. Household chores and childcare are women’s work; men risk losing their status if they perform these jobs. These are also unpaid jobs, ironically given the fact that they then need to pay someone else to do them. Similarly, it is ironic that the Philippine mothers are getting paid exponentially more to perform household chores and childcare in the receiving countries. Caregiving is simply a gendered role, and Parreñas’s example could easily be extrapolated to other poor/underdeveloped countries with patriarchal institutions. Gender also determines how children perceive their parents’ work, which in turn impacts social ties and family relations. When the women return to the Philippines from working abroad, they are often greeted coldly or with suspicion because some young children may presume their mother abandoned their own family to care for another’s. The tension that arises in these situations is not easily addressed; the mother has a hard time explaining that she worked abroad specifically to give her children money because women’s work is so systematically devalued.
Immigration policies also impact the migration patterns between poorer and richer countries. Sending countries like the Philippines recognize the importance of remittances to their own economies. Receiving countries like the United States recognize the importance of providing temporary low-wage work visas for people who can afford child care services, or providing work visas for sectors with labor shortages like nursing. It is impossible to blame the immigration policies for the woes that Parreñas describes in the book. American immigration policies are often designed to reunite families, but they also allow for transnational and temporary family arrangements. The theme of immigration policy is the one addressed the least in Parreñas’s book, because the author is more interested in gender and economics than policy.
While Parreñas’s book lends insight into specific case studies and patterns of migration, it would be nice to read about more transnational family success stories. Not all transnational families experience trauma, and many are enriched by the sacrifices made by their parents. Technology allows mothers to video chat with their children, and gender norms are changing, however slowly. It would also be interesting to learn about unique transnational family arrangements. For example, wealthy families from developing countries often migrate together and bring along their household help (Das Gupta, 2015). Parreñas does talk about socioeconomic class, but focuses her analysis on lower income/lower status individuals. Nevertheless, Children of Global Migration offers superb in-depth analysis of specific migration issues. The intersections between gender, class, and power are evident throughout the book. Women are drawn to the greater opportunities for paid domestic labor and other caring positions in receiving countries, and are often pushed by the lack of viable opportunities for economic growth in their own communities and especially in a gendered work force.





References

Das Gupta, T.  (2015) Gulf Husbands and Canadian Wives: Transnationalism from Below among South Asians – A Classed, Gendered, and Racialized Phenomenon in Engendering transnational voices : studies in family, work, and identity
Parreñas, R.S. (2005). Children of Global Migration: Transnational Families and Gendered Woes. Stanford: University of Stanford Press.