Family Futures

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To build the future, read the present:

the challenges of transnational families

Paola Panzeri, Confederation of Family Organisations in the European Union

onfronting

amily

overty

few days ago, somebody told me about her expe-

rience of moving away from home to find work:

“Now, with this job, I have papers, but when I

arrived I had to wait eight years before I could go back

to my country and visit my family. Do you know what

it means, not seeing your family for eight years? I was

getting crazy, I dreamed about them every night and

I was starting to hear their voices in my mind.” This

person lives and works in Italy, taking care of an old

lady; she is one of the thousands of ‘badanti’ (carers)

that leave their families behind in their country of

origin and come to Italy to fill what we call a labour

shortage in the care sector.

This story is just a fragment of a bigger picture that involves

hundreds of thousands of families around the world. It is

not rare, regardless of which continent we live in, to know

someone who works in our city or town but whose family

is in his or her country of origin, or to know a family that

has a member who left, looking for employment abroad.

The reasons for leaving differ from one person to another

– or perhaps it would be better to say from one family to

another. The decision to move abroad is rarely taken by the

individual alone, but discussed and prepared within the

family, whether that is the closer family circle or the extended

one. In many cases, this decision is seen as a last resort; in

others, it is seen as an investment – especially when it is done

to continue education – and it may involve the pooling of the

necessary resources to make this travel possible.

Poverty, hardship and hope for a better future for chil-

dren and the family are behind many of these separations.

It is an extreme decision, a last resort to trigger a change for

families living in poverty all over the world. Departure of a

family member is a difficult decision and will have a direct

impact on all family members. Roles and responsibilities

within the family will change significantly, not to mention

the emotional and psychological impact that the departure

of a close relative can have, especially on children.

Therefore, family expectations and the weight that, culturally,

family approval has on the individual may influence the dura-

tion of the separation and effective family life during this time.

Most departures are seen as temporary, lasting only for the time

needed to collect the money necessary for the family’s needs at

the time of departure. However, this period is often increasingly

extended. Debts made to cover travel expenses need to be paid

back, sometimes putting families and the migrants themselves

Poverty, hardship and hope for a better future for children are behind many decisions for a family member to move abroad

Image: Stylianos Papardelas /www.stylianospapardelas.com