Crisis Mitigation and Euro-Commuters: An Analysis of Economic Crisis and Cross-Border Commuting Between the Republic of Ireland and Europe

Among certain segments of the European population, the protracted economic downturn across the eurozone has given rise to what may be termed various ‘crisis mobilites’. For instance, the last few years has witnessed a massive upsurge in emigration among economically vulnerable groups (such as the young, those without tertiary-level educational qualifications), largely forced into leaving their home country in search of better career and employment prospects elsewhere. Yet such ‘crisis emigration’ is not the only form crisis mobility may take. Instead, some opt to become ‘extreme commuters’, working outside their origin country while maintaining their principal residence ‘back home’ and returning periodically (at weekends, monthly).

This paper examines the phenomenon of extreme commuting across the EU among Irish families as one particular response to the economic crisis. Specifically, it looks at Irish couples (married or cohabiting, with or without children) and examines how commuting impacts on family intimacies and dynamics – both for those who leave as well as those left behind. It asks: How is family life lived under conditions where one adult member works overseas? What challenges does this particular family arrangement present? What opportunities? Does commuting alter household gender dynamics? Do different social groups undertake commuting for different motives? And is commuting but a temporary arrangement before the more longer-term commitment that family emigration suggests? In answering such questions, this paper deepens understanding of a little-studied but growing group of European migrants, and furthers insight into new family geographies emerging in the aftermath of the crisis.