Osoby starsze wobec transnarodowej codzienności rodzinnej: doświadczenia opieki i relacji międzypokoleniowych
Older adults within the transnational everyday of family life: Experiences of care and intergenerational relations

Summary/Abstract: In this article, I analyze the experiences of aging migrant parents who remain in Poland while their adult children have settled permanently abroad. Although this form of migratory separation is permanent and often emotionally charged, it does not lead to a breakdown of family ties; rather, it transforms the daily functioning of seniors in both material terms (home environment, daily life without the physical presence of offspring) and symbolic terms (conditions for maintaining family relationships and intergenerational bonds). The discussion is based on a review of existing research on older adults from a migration perspective and literature on intergenerational care in transnational families. The article identifies two categories of experiences among the older generation resulting from the migration of adult children and their families. Some seniors actively participate in transnational relationships, travel, learn foreign languages, and use digital communication technologies. Others remain primarily recipients of care, maintaining only sporadic remote or direct contact with their family members, which may be associated with feelings of loneliness and limitations related to age or health. The analysis highlights how older adults negotiate intergenerational contacts at a distance and engage in transnational caregiving, adapting their activities to new family circumstances.

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