Transnational Communication between Children and Grandparents during the COVID-19 Lockdown: The Case of Migrant Children in Poland

ABSTRACT Transnational intergenerational communication between migrant children and their grandparents depends on family relationships and the specific migration context, but also shifts in response to emerging factors, such as the current COVID-19 crisis. The goal of this study is to offer an agile typology of communication between migrant children in Poland and their grandparents in other countries. It points to two types of family communication practices, namely direct (face-to-face) and technology-mediated communication (TMC). Drawing on data from a qualitative study of immigrant children (n = 19) and parents (n = 18) conducted during the lockdown and associated travel restrictions caused by the pandemic, the study offers a typology of emotional, symbolic, mediated, and discontinuous modes of intergenerational family communications. It also indicates that cessation of direct contact during an “immobility regime” reduces the scope of intergenerational communication in transnational families.