Grandmothers as main caregivers in the context of parental migration

Whilst a large number of parents from Romania migrate for work, the surrogate-parenting role of grandmothers remains overlooked both in policies and in research. This article explores, through 24 in-depth interviews, the often-invisible experiences of grandmothers, for a more complete understanding of the process of migration and the necessary development of social services. The fieldwork was located in the northern countryside, which has an established culture of migration and in urban and rural areas from Transylvania, where migration is more isolated. Existing policies are mainly aimed at assisting (the often victimised) children ‘left behind’ and fail to address the needs of the grandmothers. A recent law requiring migrant parents to register a guardian is highly ineffective, as families find their private ways to navigate the process of migration. Grandmothers develop their own coping strategies for managing childcare and for understanding the current process of migration. The article asserts the need for cultural sensitive interventions aimed at increasing grandmothers’ individual wellbeing. Their situation has to be contextualised simultaneously in terms of the global dynamic of migration and in terms of the more traditional expectations for reciprocity of care at later age.