Dhar V Erica
Care Manag J. 2011;12(2):60-71. doi: 10.1891/1521-0987.12.2.60.
This article concerns how globalization and the aging of the world's population are affecting the already complex issue of intergenerational transnational caregiving. Globalization has caused an increase in workforce mobility with large numbers of individuals seeking employment overseas. This, coupled with increased longevity globally, has resulted in many workers leaving their elderly parents in need of care in their home countries. This has spawned caregiving across national borders, or caring for family relations across nations. Currently in the United States, not enough emphasis is given to family caregiving. Data compiled by AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving estimate the economic value for this group of family caregivers in 2007 to be $375 billion, accounting for 34-52 million family caregivers per given year. This does not include those families who are transnational caregivers. The seminal work in this emerging field has been done by social anthropologists Loretta Baldassar, Cora Velekoop Baldock, and Raelene Wilding, who have defined the components of transnational caregiving based on an ethnographic study using qualitative data to study nine immigrant communities in Western Australia. Although their research focused on caregiving from a distance, additional work has been added to the discussion by introducing the element of "care drain" and further cultural perspectives. Therefore, this research is an exploratory study on intergenerational transnational caregiving within the context of the changing world and its demographics. Within the context of globalization and global aging, the following questions are addressed: What is the significance of family caregiving? What is a transnational? How has technology changed "transnationalism" today? What are the elements that comprise transnational caregiving? How does culture play a role in transnational caregiving? What are some of the national initiatives undertaken by governments to aid in workforce issues and recognition of caregiving organizations? By exploring these questions, it is hoped that there will be a better understanding of transnational caregiving and its relevance in all societies.
本文关注全球化和世界人口老龄化如何影响已然复杂的代际跨国照护问题。全球化导致劳动力流动性增加，大量人员到海外求职。这一情况，再加上全球范围内寿命延长，致使许多工人将年迈需要照料的父母留在本国。这催生了跨国境的照护行为，即跨越国界照顾亲属。目前在美国，对家庭照护的重视不足。美国退休人员协会（AARP）和全国照护联盟汇编的数据估计，2007年这组家庭照护者的经济价值为3750亿美元，每年有3400万至5200万家庭照护者。这还不包括跨国照护的家庭。社会人类学家洛雷塔·巴尔达萨尔、科拉·韦莱科普·鲍多克和雷琳·怀尔丁在这个新兴领域开展了开创性工作，他们基于一项人种志研究，利用定性数据研究了西澳大利亚的九个移民社区，界定了跨国照护的构成要素。尽管他们的研究聚焦于远距离照护，但通过引入“照护流失”因素和更多文化视角，为相关讨论增添了新内容。因此，本研究是在不断变化的世界及其人口结构背景下，对代际跨国照护进行的一项探索性研究。在全球化和全球老龄化背景下，探讨了以下问题：家庭照护的意义是什么？什么是跨国？技术如何改变了如今的“跨国主义”？构成跨国照护的要素有哪些？文化在跨国照护中扮演什么角色？各国政府为解决劳动力问题和认可照护组织采取了哪些国家举措？通过探讨这些问题，希望能更好地理解跨国照护及其在所有社会中的相关性。
