Who Takes Care of My Left-Behind Children? Migrant Mothers and Caregivers in Transnational Child Care

Our study investigates an understudied issue: care sharing and collaboration between migrant mothers and different caregivers of left-behind children in transnational childrearing. Using qualitative data obtained from 51 Filipina domestic workers in Hong Kong, our study compares the problems and strategies of migrant mothers working with their left-behind husbands with those of migrant mothers working with female kin, especially grandmothers. It enriches the literature of transnational child care by demonstrating the complexity, diversity, and flexibility of migrant mothers’ cooperation with caregivers in the process of meeting left-behind children’s various needs.