Intergenerational Care in Local, Long-Distance, and Transnational Families: The Role of Geographical Distance and Cross-Border Separation on Subjective Care Burden

Abstract

Transnational family research documented well the challenges that migrated adult children experience when they want to provide care to their stayed-behind families. Yet similar results are provided by research on long-distance carers who are not international migrants. So far, it remains unclear how challenges of providing support to family members relate to the geographical distance between them, or rather to the cross-border character of migration, it is when the (expected) caregivers and care-receivers live in two different nation-states. This article thus investigates the role of geographical distance and cross-border separation on perceived intergenerational care burden of residents in Germany who feel in responsibility or provide care to their parents. We use data from a survey with 2900 migrant and nonmigrant residents in Germany. Findings reveal that geographical distance and cross-border separation constitute two independent, accumulating stressors for burden experienced by individuals caring for their parents. Furthermore, we can show that the link between cross-border separation and intergenerational care burden is due to increased time and financial costs but particularly due to legal restrictions to mobility such as non-German citizenship or visa restrictions. The study represents one of the initial attempts to elucidate the mechanisms underlying distance and cross-border separation in transnational intergenerational care, demonstrating that general theoretical frameworks for understanding burden in intergenerational care relationships can be applied to cross-border family constellations.