The Family Unit and International Migration: The Perceptions of Italian Immigrant Children

Abstract

This paper examines the centrality of the family, both nuclear and extended in the Italian postwar migratory process to Canada and in their post-migratory adjustment. In a series of interviews with first generation immigrant children, two themes emerged: the necessity of keeping the nuclear family together and the importance of intergenerational ties and commitments. The respondents tended to view their parents’ decision to migrate as one primarily motivated by familial considerations. That is, it was seen as a decision based on their future as a family, whether for reunification, or for greater opportunities for the children. For these respondents, family ties have not only survived migration but have been fortified by it.