Gender-power relations in the migrant workers' families in Ukraine

Abstract

This paper highlights the problem of migrant families in Ukraine and deals with the main characteristics of the Ukrainian population migration abroad. The research traces the evolution of the social institution of the family in Ukraine and analyzes how it is varied and in what way family relationships have changed under the impact of migration processes in modern Ukrainian society. Special emphasis is placed on the transformation of the role of grandmother in the modern Ukrainian family. The results obtained through the in-depth interview technique indicate that in the modern Ukrainian family the grandmother starts playing the role of mother for children in the family. She can participate in economic, political, social, recreational, cultural and other activities and spheres of family life. Thus, the grandmother becomes an active member of the family; she can also be one of the first agents of the childrens socialization. She influences them greatly and transmits certain values, traditions and customs to them. Thus the study permits us to specify more clearly the problems in the sphere of the migrant worker's families in the eastern part of the country and improve the overall employment and demographic situation in Ukraine today.