Modernisation or Crisis? Transformations in Families of Temporary Migrants
Modernisation or Crisis? Transformations in Families of Temporary Migrants

Summary/Abstract: Migration impacts the lives and family relations of those who migrate, and this is also true with regard to circular migration, where the person is in a cycle of going aboard to work and then returning to the home country for some time. On the one hand, as a result of the migration, the entire family has to adjust to the rhythm established by the migrant. On the other, it also makes it necessary for family members to become independent and take over the responsibilities that pre-migration belonged to the migrating husband/wife. Using research completed in the Opole region of Poland, the authors attempt to answer the question of how families adjust to the situation in the different periods, and how gender roles as well as parent-child relations change in such families. The authors focus in particular on the issues of the changes in the families themselves: do they continue as traditionally functioning families (albeit imperfect), or do they shift towards the contemporary model of 'living apart together', where each family member independently forges their own path in life?

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