TCRA stands for ‘Transnational Child-Raising Arrangements’ and is the abbreviation used by this 5 year research programme between Ghana and The Netherlands. TCRAf-Eu stands for ‘Transnational Child-Raising Arrangements between Africa and Europe’ and is a 3 year research programme. Both programmes investigate the effects parent migration has on a) the children, b) the migrant parents and c) the caregivers.
Migration is a common practice yet it is often difficult for families to travel together which leads families the world over to live physically apart. This separation has many consequences both for those migrating and the (extended) family left behind. In particular we are interested in the arrangements that have to be made for raising the children who have one or both parents living abroad. As these arrangements expand over the borders of nation states and countries they are transnational and include different legal and institutional conditions.
In many African countries such arrangements are not a novelty; they are a common practice and have been well established. Nevertheless, very limited or too focused information is available on the effects such transnational child raising arrangements (TCRAs) have on those involved. In particular the children, parents and caregivers are affected by such arrangements but institutions also play an important role laying down the conditions and regulations for TCRAs.
The programmes compare the results of three different African (sending) and three different European (receiving) countries namely Angola, Nigeria and Ghana with Portugal, Ireland and The Netherlands. By focusing on education, jobs, emotional and physical wellbeing as well as how these arrangements function the programmes’ aims to find out four main things;
- How these TCRAs affect the life chances of children who remain in their home country, their parents living abroad and their caregivers.
- How European migration laws and African child schooling and fostering institutions influence TCRAs and in turn how they are affected by TCRAs.
- How the different country contexts influence the functioning and outcomes of the TCRAs on the people involved (child, parent and caregiver).
- How institutions in both Africa and The Netherlands influence TCRAs and in turn how they are affected by TCRAs.
The research was conducted in several locations in Ghana, Angola, Nigeria, The Netherlands, Portugal and Ireland. Here is a list of research locations;
-
Ghana
- The Greater Accra Region, Central Region, Ashanti Region and the Brong Ahafo Region
-
Angola
- Luanda Province (Luanda) and Benguela Province (Benguela and Lobito)
-
Nigeria
- Oyo state, Osun state and Lagos state
-
The Netherlands
- Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Almere
-
Portugal
- Greater Lisbon and Setúbal
-
Ireland
- Cork City and County, Dublin City and County, Galway, Drogheda, Dundalk
Through your participation you have enabled the programme to shed light on the realities of families living apart, the arrangements they have to make and how these function. We therefore will be able to provide detailed information on both the personal and institutional effects transnational child-raising has.
Thank you for your involvement.
