Borders Separating Families: Children's Perspectives of Labour Migration in Estonia

The chapter analyses children's perspectives of parental transnational job migration in Estonia focussing specifically on family borders and wholeness. Based on an original study carried out in 2010 among 239 sixth grade students, the findings demonstrate that children associate a labour-migrant parent with negative emotions; a feeling of separation from such a parent can itself be perceived as a forced or premature individuation. However, children being left behind have more freedom and autonomy in decision-making. Both cases - children being left behind or taken along - change caring, sharing and children's self-regulation patterns and uncover factors that push and pull family borders thus exposing risks to its wholeness.