Examining Maternal in-Migration: Blurring Female Stewardship of State and Family

This paper evaluates responses to the in-migration of mothers accompanying children, particularly to European states concerned with low family growth rates and population aging. Recalling earlier feminist reservations about state capacities to protect a full range of interests for women as well as children - deemed especially ‘vulnerable’ migrant groups for varying reasons across multiple UN measures and regional policies - this study assesses national variations in the civil inclusion of maternally accompanied children. In comparison with previous surges in transnational kinship building such as intercountry child adoption that required only the naturalization of unaccompanied minors, this study assesses shifts in the interpretation of civic responsibilities for social care that pertain to recognition of maternal roles created outside of the region. Considering points in Castles and Miller’s (1998) comments on the ‘feminization of migration’, this examines changes in presumptions about citizenship entitlement for women through a survey on the narratives associated with the civil inclusion of social and familial care networks across regional borders (Lawson 2008). It concludes with a review on the value of maternal mobility, the political processes for recognizing existing care networks and the ‘skills’ and survival strategies now required for successful multinational maternity (Parreñas 2003).