SOCIAL ORPHANHOOD OF CHILDREN OF UKRAINIAN LABOUR MIGRANTS: THE EMPIRICAL DIMENSION

Анотація

The article presents the results of the study of social orphanhood in the context of modern migration processes in Ukraine based on the theoretical provisions of the concept of transnational migration and the phenomenological approach. In the context of the researched problem, the understanding of social orphanhood as a social phenomenon in the Ukrainian discourse through the prism of transnational migration does not have a clearly defined scientific status. According to the authors of the article, a closer approximation 

in the understanding of this phenomenon is the concept of “Euro-orphanhood”, which has been actively studied recently by Polish scientists. An empirical study based on a qualitative methodology concluded that the transnational family involves both physical and psychological gap between parents and abandoned children, and therefore may constitute a new form of social orphanhood. In the transnational families of Ukrainian migrants children experience loneliness, lack of love, attention and even parents’ alienation. There is also a partial weakening of control in such families, redistribution of responsibilities, changes in the organization of daily routine. However, it is impossible to say unequivocally that the children of Ukrainian labour migrants are social orphans. The difficulties they face due to the absence of their parents are not crucial. Moreover, based on self-assessment, they do not consider themselves social orphans, as in most cases parents working abroad maintain contact with their children. The results of other international studies on the importance and leading role of mothers in the emotional relationship of support and education of children of labour migrants have been confirmed. It is noted that the vast majority of respondents perceive migration abroad as a common phenomenon, as a formed model of behaviour in Ukrainian society which is worth following. The lack of problems with the technical side of communication due to the development of information and communication technologies still depersonalizes the communication process, weakens control over real forms of children’s behaviour and creates a kind of «illusion of parents’ presence» of parents which is especially expected during family holidays and important life events of the children.
Keywords: migration, migrants from Ukraine, labour migration, children of labour migrants, intellectual migration, social orphanhood, adaptation strategies of migrants.