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7. Transnational practices and gender equality in families living abroad
A large and increasing proportion of families based in Poland has relatives abroad. As discussed in earlier chapters, the period since 2004 has seen a greatly increased number of ‘transnational families’, in the sense of nuclear families living abroad but with extended family in Poland. Such families in most cases can be labelled ‘transnational’ for the extra reason that they engage in frequent transnational practices. To some extent this model supersedes the 1990s model of ‘transnational family’, where just one par-ent migrates, with the rest of the household remaining in Poland. The pro-liferation of transnational families of both kinds is a social change in its own right, both because it contributes to the emergence of ‘Polish society abroad’ (see chapter 9) and because of its implications for relatives living in Poland. It adds to the overall diversification of family types in Poland discussed above (see also Slany 2007). The post-2004 exodus has been partly caused by the chain migration of family members and the process of family reunification. Polish nuclear families are now to be found in every corner of Europe. This phenomenon has been accompanied by a Pol-ish ‘baby boom’ in receiving societies such as the United Kingdom, Ireland and Norway (see, e.g. Milewski 2007; Pustułka, Krzaklewska and Huang 2018).
Many research participants – for example, in the Transfam project – state that it is better for families to be together, to resolve the problems
created by separation (Slany and Struzik 2016). However, decisions that a wife and children should leave Poland are not taken lightly and should not be seen simply as a decision taken by the migrating male, imposed on his family. First, reunification abroad testifies to the fact that the family sees itself as a joint endeavour. Second, the process of reunification is a test of power relations within families, requiring serious discussion between couples, within the extended family and sometimes also with older children (Baldassar and Merla 2013; Bryceson and Vuorela 2002;
Goulbourne et al. 2010; Slany and Strzemecka 2016). White (2017) shows how some women are able to block reunification attempts. Such women feel that direct contact with their family members based in Poland is more important than reunifying the nuclear family abroad.
Sometimes, too, women exert their influence in the opposite direction:
women living abroad persuade friends and relatives living in Poland to migrate to join them.
As discussed in earlier chapters, this migration wave, in the context of EU mobility rights, has led to the adoption of transnational ways of life, as families ‘spread their roots’ across geographical space and family mem-bers find new ways of communicating, often using electronic media. To change the metaphor, this creates a kind of transnational family bridge.
The ‘transnational turn’ in migration studies, which has been such a paradigm change since the 1990s, has helped scholars focus on actual transnational families and their social fields/personal networks, rela-tionships that are modified and reconfigured by migration (Baldassar and Merla 2013; Castles and Miller 2009; Levitt and Glick Schiller 2004). Using a transnational lens helps reduce the previous overempha-sis on economic and structural explanations for migration, makes visible the heterogeneity of migrants’ ties and allows the researcher to under-stand migrants’ behaviour simultaneously from the viewpoints of send-ing and receivsend-ing countries.
The transnational turn has been most significant in shedding light on migrating families, on their complexity and on varying family practices.
On the one hand, these practices constitute new attitudes and forms of behaviour that have a pragmatic base and can be considered adaptation strategies to the new life in migration. On the other hand, such practices are culturally embedded. They are a balancing act, a compromise between models exported from Poland and models prevalent in the receiving society. A transnational orientation is observed in various family practices:
(1) rituals, traditions and religious holidays; (2) everyday contacts with family members by Skype and telephone; (3) visits back home (see, e.g.
Bell 2016; Bell and Erdal 2015; Erdal 2014; Muszel 2013a; Muszel
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2013b; Ryan 2011; Slany, Krzaklewska and Warat 2016; Ślusarczyk and Pustułka 2017; White 2017). Visits to Poland are usually a bustle of activity. They are not just for visiting family but also seeing dentists and doctors, beauticians, hairdressers and dressmakers, and sorting out official paperwork.
As discussed further in chapters 7 and 8, migrants also invite rela-tives to come and see how they live abroad, which can lead to their views changing after their return to Poland – their views about migration, about life in the destination country and about the world in general. Transna-tional life is often organised around children and, despite migration, chil-dren living abroad often form strong ties with grandparents, especially grandmothers (Slany and Strzemecka 2016, 2018).
Empirical evidence suggests that, typically, just as for Poles in Poland, family remains a very important value. Transnational families prioritise maintaining relationships across borders, and distance does not automat-ically decrease intimacy, but can even strengthen family feelings ( Ślu-sarczyk and Pustułka 2017). Whether they have decided to settle abroad or say they wish to return sometime to Poland, family ties are kept alive and testify not only to family affection but also to a sense of continued responsibility.
It is impossible to generalise about gender relations within the hun-dreds of thousands of Polish families who have migrated since 2004. To some extent they are a microcosm of Polish families in Poland. However, it is safe to say that practices do change to some extent as a result of migra-tion. According to a 2016 report, based mainly on the Transfam project, prepared by Pustułka (Slany, Pustułka and Ślusarczyk 2016) one can distinguish several different models of married and family life among Poles abroad. These reflect the fact that being abroad, for families of any nationality, tends to result in a myriad of different family practices and contexts for ‘doing family’ (Finch 2006). Pustułka creates her typology by focusing on several criteria: the type of gender relations in the family, attitudes to Polish identity, other important values imparted to children, socialisation practices and orientations towards return. Referring to these criteria, she identifies the following models: traditional, mixed and egali-tarian. The most commonly chosen model can be defined as mixed; more seldom is an egalitarian model selected (Slany, Pustułka and Ślusarczyk 2016). The more patriarchal families were mostly likely to declare their intention to return to Poland, which, if it happened, would alter the bal-ance still more in favour of Poles abroad adopting semi-egalitarian or egalitarian models.
A watershed for many couples is having a child abroad and the need to adopt various strategies for his or her upbringing, with regard to inte-gration, language teaching, building a sense of ethnic identity and main-taining transnational ties. In some families there is opposition to the egalitarian ideas and practices common in receiving societies such as Nor-way, with a consequent deliberate focusing on traditional gender roles:
mothers are carers and homemakers, and fathers are breadwinners (see, e.g. Małek 2011; Mazurkiewicz 2013; Muszel 2013a; Muszel 2013b;
Pustułka and Trąbka 2017). Rather than the father taking on more responsibility for childcare, this role is often performed by ‘flying grand-mothers’ (Bielecka-Prus, Czapka and Kawczyńska-Butrym 2018; Bjørnholt and Stefansen 2018). According to children interviewed in the Transfam project, in most households women still did most of the housework (Slany and Strzemecka 2016).
The extensive practice of traditional or mixed models may also reflect the social composition of migration to Norway after 2004, with many manual workers speaking little or no Norwegian or English and focusing on maintenance of a ‘Polish’ life-style (Guribye 2018). The more educated migrants who had found good jobs and had been in Norway for longer were more likely to practise an egalitarian model. However, all fam-ilies were affected by requirements by Norwegian schools that both par-ents be involved – as it were, forcing partner-like practices. This is definitely a novelty for Polish parents used to a Polish context, where school and chil-dren are usually the wife’s responsibility.
In many other families, Polish fathers do take on more caring roles than is likely to have been the case had they remained in Poland (Pustułka, Krzaklewska and Huang 2018). The Transfam research (Pustułka, Struzik and Ślusarczyk 2015) and the PAR Migration Navigator6 (Żadkowska, Kosakowska-Berezecka and Ryndyk 2018), in particular indicate the importance of Norwegian institutional support and social expectations with regard to being a ‘New [i.e. engaged] Father’. Because of the migra-tion context, men have to redefine what fathering implies. Living in Norway, they cannot avoid finding out about active fatherhood and its manifestations – paternity leave, spending free time with children, less paid work, more free time for the family, negotiating care arrangements. How-ever, since families also tend to maintain strong ties with Poland, Polish norms continue to exert an influence, especially the expectation that the man should be the chief breadwinner and should play a more passive role in the family. It seems that New Fathers often do not reflect deeply on their behaviour, but that New Fatherhood is a collection of practices
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deriving from the specific sociocultural context and practical need to combine family and work responsibilities. The research shows, however, that there is an increase in active fathering, even if in many cases women continue to do the majority of the housework.
The structure and legal regulations governing the labour market in Norway also promote a work-life balance, which can help improve gen-der equality relations within the family. Families pay more attention to
‘quality time’ and pick up Norwegian habits of spending weekends together with their children in outdoor activities, whatever the weather (Slany and Strzemecka 2016, 270).
9. Conclusion
This chapter has discussed family practices and relations in Poland within the complex context of social change following the post-communist trans-formation. Migration has played a key role this change. In the chapter, I have used a gender perspective to understand links between social change, migration and the mosaic of family life. I have shown, by identifying trends connected to the family sphere and family practices, and by discussing their various causes, that it is then possible to show how migration fits into this picture.
Research indicates irrefutably that family remains a very important value in Polish society and this is practically unchanged over the whole period 1990–2015. Various agencies of socialisation in Poland maintain its importance. Migrant families seem to be just as active as families in Poland in promoting such values. The Mother-Pole model continues to be integral to the identity of many Polish women, including migrants, despite a certain weakening and criticism of the model. It is demonstrated in the phenomenon of ‘managerial matriarchy’. When mothers migrate alone, they manage to adhere to the model by rationalising their situation in various ways, creating an identity as a long-distance mother and organising care for children in Poland. Research also shows how stressful it can be to adhere to the model, both for women working in Poland and abroad. The model also to some extent penetrates families living abroad, as shown in the frequent practice of mixed and traditional gender roles.
Despite the fact that most migrant women work and despite their important role in maintaining their families (the dual-earner income model), men are still widely regarded as breadwinners. The Transfam research in Nor-way, like the GEQ research in Poland, did not show much evidence that this gendered division of roles generated tension and conflicts.
However, there is also an increase in support for gender equality in Poland, at least on a declarative level, as well as more evidence of actual engaged fatherhood, particularly in cities and among better-educated, younger people. This is also noticeable among Poles abroad and, in receiv-ing countries like Norway, which strongly promote gender equality, family life does become more egalitarian, with Polish families to some extent compelled to adjust their practices. Women become more positive about their position in the family and acquire a stronger sense of agency.
Research (both in Poland and Norway) also shows a ‘family turn’, with increased understanding of the importance of devoting free time to chil-dren, particularly in active leisure pursuits and sport, and family holidays abroad. Although low income from wages abroad can make it difficult for migrants to avoid spending even more time at work than they did in Poland, it does seem possible for them to improve their work-life balance.
This offers opportunities for poorer families that they may not have enjoyed in Poland.
Strong attachment to one’s family and satisfaction with one’s fam-ily life, evident in Polish survey data, is manifested in mutual support and solidarity both in Poland and among transnational families. In the latter case, other sources of support may be limited in scope. Families abroad practise and cultivate different types of Polish family-centred activities, and parents draw on help from their own parents in Poland, when they are healthy and active. Hence the extended family remains significant to Polish families, even though the number of extended family households is declining in Poland.
A basic Polish trend since the system transformation, shown in many studies, is the pluralisation of family types (more single-parent and single-person households, more cohabiting and homosexual couples) and a greater social acceptance of this phenomenon. Migration undoubt-edly contributes to this trend of pluralisation by creating various kinds of transnational families, at different lifestyle stages. At the same time, there is a higher incidence of divorce in Poland. Particularly in the less Catholic, western parts of Poland, it is increasingly considered accept-able under certain conditions, despite the opposition of the Catholic Church. Marriages damaged by migration are probably more likely to end in divorce in regions where divorce is already more prevalent. On the whole, however, there is little evidence that migration on its own leads to marital breakdown; instead, it is more likely to exacerbate already existing strains.
Migration furthers processes of individualisation that are already marked in many spheres of Polish life. It helps women migrants enhance
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their sense of individual agency and partly free themselves from social control and domestic violence at home.
Poland is experiencing a marked and intensifying process of popu-lation ageing, with implications for intergenerational caring responsibil-ities. This becomes even more significant as a result of the nuclearisation of families, the declining birth rate and, of course, mass migration. With increasing life expectancy, even children remaining in Poland will not be able to meet all the needs of parents who become seriously ill in later life.
This prompts concern about who will be able to provide the necessary care. Both the Polish state and Poles living abroad, however, seem to devote insufficient attention to this matter. Krzyżowski (2013) suggests that for the time being migrants do generally manage to organise care suc-cessfully, although Kordasiewicz, Radziwinowiczówna and Kloc-Nowak (2018) also point to tensions between migrants and their siblings remain-ing in Poland. It is likely that increasremain-ing attention will be paid to developremain-ing state and private institutional care in Poland.
To conclude, migration exacerbates certain phenomena and processes and allows us to observe them more closely and see how they mutually influence each other and lead to further consequences. As men-tioned at the beginning of the chapter, gender is constructed partly through the migration process. A gender lens is particularly helpful for analysing the interconnections examined in this chapter, and could also be applied more widely to studies of family life in Poland. Much still remains to be explored. It is hoped, however, that the chapter has opened the way for further sociological research and analysis.
Notes
1 The projects were funded by the Polish-Norwegian Research Programme, operated by the National Centre for Research and Development under the Norwegian Financial Mechanism and directed by myself at the Department of Population Studies, Jagiel-lonian University, Kraków.
2 http:// www . geq . socjologia . uj . edu . pl / en _ GB / start.
3 http:// www . transfam . socjologia . uj . edu . pl / en _ GB / .
4 The divorce rate is, however, still low in Poland compared with many European countries (GUS 2016, 474–6). In 1990, per 1,000 contracted marriages there were 166.2 divorces, and in 2015 this had risen to 356.4 (i.e., a nearly threefold increase). In Poland, a largely Catholic country, separation (a status officially recognised in 1998) is not a popular option; for instance, in 2015 there were only about 10 separations per year 1,000 contracted marriages.
5 Prognoza ludności na lata 2014–2050, https:// stat . gov . pl / obszary - tematyczne / ludnosc / prognoza - ludnosci / prognoza - ludnosci - na - lata - 2014 - 2050 - opracowana - 2014 - r - ,1,5 . html.
6 See www . migrationnavigator . org for more information.