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Role Mobility and Transnational Marriage: Immigrant Women in Taiwan

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Global Diasporas and Development

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Abstract

Drawing interviews with 42 immigrants from Southeast Asia, this study explores gendered family care and housework within immigrant households in Taiwan. Research findings of this study demonstrate that family support can transform gender roles within immigrant households. Immigrants in extended families gain support from family relatives, but lose opportunities to change the traditional husband and wife roles associated with childcare and housework. Different from the predominant stereotype, most immigrants are full-time employees or have multiple part-time jobs to support their family. Transnational marriage gives third-world women opportunities to move away from disadvantaged living conditions and gives their husbands an opportunity to change their gender roles in everyday life.

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Acknowledgments

The writing of the manuscript was financed by the National Science Council of the Republic of China, Taiwan, under Contract Nos. NSC97-2621-M-003-005, NSC98-2621-M-003-002, and NSC99-2621—003-002, under the programmes Making paid employment and care responsibilities compatible among family caregivers: Sustainable development under an ageing population and a declining birth rate and Immigrant caregivers: How to make employment and care responsibilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Institute of Social Work, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Shu-Man Pan

  2. Department of Sociology, National Taipei University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Jung-Tsung Yang

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  1. Shu-Man Pan
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  2. Jung-Tsung Yang
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Correspondence to Shu-Man Pan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, India

    Sadananda Sahoo

  2. Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, India

    B.K. Pattanaik

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Pan, SM., Yang, JT. (2014). Role Mobility and Transnational Marriage: Immigrant Women in Taiwan. In: Sahoo, S., Pattanaik, B. (eds) Global Diasporas and Development. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-1047-4_20

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