Intensification of traditional mothering ideals in migration contexts: low-income Mainland Chinese cross-border mothers in Hong Kong

Research on migration and mothering has primarily focused on how migration reframes motherhood. Mothers are expected to be the primary caregivers and prioritise their children’s wellbeing over their own. However, transnational mothers face tensions between this conventional ideal and migration realities. Most research has concentrated on the strategies of migrating mothers in resolving these tensions. This study, however, reveals that not all migrant mothers could renegotiate ‘good mothering’ to counter traditional ideals. The authors conducted individual in-depth interviews with 26 low-income cross-border Chinese mothers coming from Mainland China to Hong Kong. The study found that they reinforced and intensified traditional mothering ideals and struggled to meet such moral expectations because their visa status did not allow employment and access to Hong Kong’s social security system. Mothers subordinated their own needs and wellbeing to prioritise their children’s. They blamed themselves for not being able to care for their family in Mainland China. They also needed to rebuild social networks in Hong Kong centred around their children’s needs. The findings suggest that migrant mothers’ agency to redefine motherhood in a transnational context is limited by the intersection of their social class and citizenship status.