Cross-border Marriages and Transnational Family Networks for Care: A Study of Marriage-migrant Women in Korea

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 부산대학교 여성연구소
· 수록지 정보 : 여성학연구 / 26권 / 2호 / 195 ~ 226페이지
· 저자명 : 황정미

초록

This study explores marriage-migrant women’s transnational family relations linking the host and origin society, particularly in the context of gender and care. It analyzes a survey result of marriage-migrant women who are living with a South Korean husband and have experienced childbirth in South Korea. The experience of care provision among transnational families is the main dependent variable and is measured by two questions on whether marriage migrants have been directly supported by family members from their countries of origin for postpartum care and whether they have received child care support from their family while residing in South Korea. It is found that experiences of post-natal care by homeland family members tend to increase if migrant women have more resources in terms of household income and level of education. Care for young children, however, is found more likely to be provided by transnational family members when migrant mothers have work experience. This means that working mothers attempt to compensate for a care deficit in the host country by mobilizing transnational family resources. Given that almost half of the respondents have experienced care provision from their homeland family members, it seems that an increase of cross-border marriages forms transnational family networks linking host and origin societies. It is also notable that more than one third of respondents consider sending their children to their homeland for various reasons, and also intend to return to their home countries in search of opportunities for education, business, and retirement. Linking transnational family members across borders may become a part of a family strategy for migrant mothers, especially for ones with higher education backgrounds. It needs to be noted that cultural meanings and subjective interpretations around cross-cultural family relations cannot be analyzed in this paper due to limitations of data and methods.

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