From Migrant Worker to Migrant Grandmother: A Gendered Life Course Perspective

Existing migration research often examines women’s labour migration and later-life caregiving separately. Drawing on a gendered life course framework, this study explores how women who migrated for work during their mothering stage later become migrant grandmothers. This qualitative study is based on in-depth interviews with 36 migrant grandmothers in Chongqing, China, all of whom had prior labour migration experience during their mothering stage. Preliminary analysis of several transcripts was conducted using thematic analysis guided by a gendered life course perspective. Preliminary findings reveal that women’s transitions are shaped by structural pressures, including rural economic transformation and urban dual-earner family needs, and persistent gendered norms positioning women as primary caregivers. Across the life course, participants’ caregiving shifted from “survival-driven economic provision” during the mothering stage to “intensive, science-informed caregiving” during the grandmothering stage. Despite this shift, women remained bound by gendered care expectations: mothering was marked by guilt over physical absence, while grandmothering involved navigating physical exhaustion, spousal separation, and intergenerational tension. Women exercised agency through strategies such as remote mothering, emotional adaptation, and selective compromise, yet these practices operated within, rather than challenged, traditional gender divisions. This study illuminates the continuity of care responsibilities across women’s life stages. Findings suggest that policies and services should recognize the cumulative care burdens faced by migrant grandmothers and address gendered assumptions shaping family care arrangements in contemporary China.