Women's social remittances and their implications at household level: A case study of Romanian migration to Italy

Abstract

Remittances have become an important topic of research in the growing literature on the nexus between gender, migration and socio-economic development. From this point of view, Romania constitutes an important case, revealing transformations wrought by social and economic remittances not only at national and regional levels, but also at the household level. This article focuses on women migrant returnees and the effect of their social remittances on family relations. Women are often categorised under the return of conservatism group because migrants who are influenced by family in their decisions to return are less likely to become returnees of innovation. Although women return as a result of their husbands’ decisions, findings suggest that these women have begun challenging the rules that govern traditional relations between family members. This paper highlights the influence of social remittances on those left behind and raises questions about the manner by which social remittances transform households