Family migration

Family migration is the term used to categorise the international movement of people who migrate due to new or established family ties. People moving for family reasons constitute the largest group of migrants entering OECD countries, ahead of labour and humanitarian migration (OECD, 2017). The study of migrant families cuts across the available legal definitions of family and brings to light emerging forms of living together, gender roles, sexualities, kinship ties, and caregiving practices. This chapter selectively synthesises recent scholarship on family migration, providing insights on the institutionalisation of the field, outlining its approaches and methodologies, and highlighting emerging topics for future research. These include transnational families and how they stay in contact; separated families and deportation; the impact of family migration policies; marriage migration and multi-sited and longitudinal studies used in studying the transformation and diversification of family forms.

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