Transnational family-work balance: Experiences of Australian migrants caring for ageing parents and young children across distance and borders

Abstract

How are work and family balanced across national borders and distances? Are there unique features to these transnational balancing acts, or are they simply the same stories being reproduced on a global scale? We use qualitative interview data from migrants who live with their dependent children in Australia, and who simultaneously care for their ageing parents in Italy and Ireland, to explore points of similarity and difference in the balance of family and work at the local and transnational levels. We argue that, while the gendered dimensions are largely reproduced, there are some important points of dissimilarity in both the strategies adopted and the meanings attached to the negotiation of family-work balance in transnational contexts. These stories provide interesting new insights into the broader literature on the balance of family and work, highlighting the important role of culturally-specific models of family and care.