The Reorganization of Care in Transnational Migration Contexts: A Study of Paraguayan Women in Spain and Their Families in Paraguay

Abstract

This article analyzes the reorganization of care in Paraguayan families in the context of female migration to Spain, drawing on the global care chains perspective. Using a qualitative, multi-sited research design, 20 semi-structured interviews were conducted with Paraguayan women living in Madrid and Barcelona, along with 16 interviews with family members in Paraguay. The findings show that migration does not interrupt care but reconfigures it through predominantly female family networks, in which grandmothers, older daughters, and other women assume childcare and household responsibilities, particularly in the context of limited paternal involvement. At the same time, migrant women remain actively involved in family life through remittances, digital technologies, and everyday household decision-making. Although these arrangements ensure the continuity of care, they also concentrate responsibilities among women across different generations. The study provides empirical evidence from the Paraguayan case and shows how global care chains reproduce gender and intergenerational inequalities between countries of origin and destination.