TCRAs are prevalent the world over with one or both parents located in another country away from their children. In some cases such arrangements are the result of stringent migration policies which make it difficult for families to migrate together. In others, they are the preferred choice of family members especially in societies where child fostering is a common practice such as in many places in Africa.
There is concern that current emigration of one or more parents is a serious threat to the well-being of a generation of children. Yet there is little statistical evidence on the effects of TCRAs on children, parents or caregivers. By focusing on all actors in TCRAs (immigrant parents abroad, children and their caregivers in African origin countries) and institutions that affect or are affected by TCRAs the research programmes address the above issues.
‘Effects of Transnational Child Raising Arrangements on Life-Chances of Children, Migrant Parents and Caregivers between Ghana and The Netherlands’ (TCRA) is conducted with the University of Ghana. It is funded by the Science for Global Development division (WOTRO) of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and includes 2 post doctoral fellows and 2 PhD candidates based in Ghana and The Netherlands. In this programme the effects of migration on children who stay behind are studied, as well as how caregivers in Ghana and parents in The Netherlands are impacted.
‘Effects of Transnational Child Raising Arrangements on Life-Chances of Children, Migrant Parents and Caregivers between Africa and Europe’ (TCRAf-EU) builds on the TCRA programme above and adds a cross-country comparative dimension by including Angola and Nigeria as migrant origin countries and Portugal and Ireland as migrant destination countries. It is funded by the New Opportunities for Research Funding Agency Cooperation in Europe (NORFACE ) Research Programme on Migration. TCRAf-Eu is conducted together with University College Cork, Ireland, University of Lisbon, Portugal and Fafo Institute for Applied International Studies, Norway. It includes 3 PhD candidates and 3 post doctoral fellows.
‘The functioning and consequences of transnational child raising arrangements in South and North: Angolan, Nigerian and Ghanaian migrant parents living in South Africa and The Netherlands’ (TCRA-SAN) is conducted together with University of Cape Town. The program complements the TCRA and TCRAf-EU projects, in two ways. First, it adds a qualitative understanding to the systematic, large-scale comparative analyses conducted in the two aforementioned projects. Second, it incorporates an additional comparative dimension to the projects by including a South-South migration flow. It is funded by the Science for Global Development division (WOTRO) of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and includes 2 post-doctoral fellows.
You can find more information on the individual programmes under TCRA, TCRAf-Eu, and TCRA-SAN.
