Migration of Parents from the Caribbean: Implications for Counselling Children and Families in the Receiving and Sending Countries

• Author: Audrey M. Pottinger, Angela Gordon-Stair and Sharon Williams-Brown
• Pages: 181-191

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MIGRATION OF PARENTS FROM THE CARIBBEAN

Since the 1960s, significant numbers of West Indian mothers began

migrating to the United States to seek work as nurses and nannies, leaving

their children behind (Thomas-Hope 2002). Attention needs to be directed

at the population of children left behind by these parents as well as the

emotional, social and psychological needs of the immigrants. How both

populations adapt to the migration will determine the contribution each makes

to the economic, educational, health status and cultural harmony of the society

in which they reside.

Migration of parents from the Caribbean to North America can take four

forms, some of which are unique to the Caribbean and will allow for

immigrants to remain involved in the development of their country of origin:

(1) Commonly, parents will migrate for up to six months at a time to

work in the host/receiving country (seasonal migration);

(2) Parents will migrate either singly or together with the intention of

sending for the rest of their family at a later date (serial migration);

(3) Parents will migrate for a defined time or indefinitely but have no

intention of having their children live in the overseas country (parental

migration);

(4) Parents will migrate with their family (family migration). The type of

migration selected is determined by economic reasons.

Migration of Parents from the Caribbean:

Implications for Counselling Children and Families in the

Receiving and Sending Countries

AUDREY M. POTTINGER, ANGELA GORDON-STAIR,

SHARON WILLIAMS-BROWN

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