From Remittance Receivers to Senders: Unpacking Transnational Care Circulation Among South Asian Student Migrants in Finland and Sweden

Abstract

Research on transnational care through remittances has gained traction but remains largely focused on one-directional flows. Studies on remittances have examined external factors, such as structural facilities, and internal factors, including family dynamics, that shape remittance practices. However, most research predominantly explores North-to-South remittance flows. This study draws on a decade of periodic ethnographic research and 57 life story interviews with South Asian student migrants in Finland and Sweden to analyse how external and internal factors influence the bidirectional and multidirectional dynamics of transnational care economies. Families with members in two countries mainly receive support from India and Pakistan, whereas families spread across multiple countries receive support from both home and beyond, including the US and Spain, for up to 3 years. Some families transition from bidirectional to multidirectional support when the migrant moves abroad, expanding the household's remittance circulation capacity. Others receive remittances from already settled siblings within Finland and Sweden, reducing the need for cross-border support. Achieving self-sufficiency through employment marks a critical turning point where reverse remittances stop. Migrants then begin repaying support—often without explicit agreements—either to original supporters or to newer migrants until they establish their own families. This marks their transition from receivers to senders, often followed by a stage of non-sending. A comprehensive ‘life course’ approach to analysing remittance practices challenges the dominant view of student migrants as passive recipients, highlighting the complex and evolving nature of remittance roles within transnational care circulation.