First-generation Circular Migrants’ Involvement in the Upbringing of their Grandchildren: Turkish Immigrants in Germany

• In Event: 3251 - Section on International Migration Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 10. Migrant Youth

Abstract

Following retirement, older immigrants increasingly tend to engage in circular migration. This back-and-forth movement introduces a variety of challenges that affect the nature of grandparenthood as well as grandparental involvement in the upbringing of grandchildren. For circular migrant grandparents, maintaining intergenerational relationships requires them to overcome not only geographic distances, but also linguistic and cultural differences. In families with circular migrant grandparents, intergenerational conflict often springs from disparate generational exposure to acculturation processes, which produces divergent aspirations within the first and second generations towards the upbringing of the third-generation. This study explores how first-generation, Turkish, circular migrant grandparents attempt to raise grandchildren who reside in Germany by implementing “cultural and instrumental transfers.” This study undertakes a qualitative approach: semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of first-generation Turkish circular migrant grandparents (N=40). The analysis finds that childcare assistance is characterized by intergenerational conflict, rather than solidarity or altruistic support, between the first and second generations. Moreover, through transnational arranged marriages, as a cultural transfer, and inter-vivos gifts, as an instrumental transfer, grandparents encourage their grandchildren to permanently return to Turkey.

Author

• Tolga Tezcan, University of Florida