Youth Migration and Life Course Transitions: Comparing the Impact of Women’s Mobility across Generations in Bulgaria

• Published in: Sociologija 2019-01, Vol.61 (2), p.210-226
• Main Authors: Kovacheva, Siyka, Hristozova, Darena
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accession; Generations; Happiness; Identity of Collectives; Life course; Life experiences; Life transitions; Market economies; Migrant workers; Migrants; Migration; Mobility; National identity; Occupational mobility; Social development; Social differentiation; Social environment; Social networks; Social Sciences; Socialism; Sociology; Transitions; Women; Youth
• ISSN: 0038-0318; 2406-0712
• DOI: 10.2298/SOC1902210K

Migration abroad has become a significant part of the life experiencesof a growing number of Bulgarian youths, since the regime change in 1989. In thispaper we explore the effect of migration on the life transitions of two generationsof young Bulgarians – the ‘Transition’ generation o f those who had their formativeyears in the 1990s during the country’s transition from state socialism to amarket economy and the ‘Accession’ generation of those who grew up after thecountry joined the EU in 2007 in a somewhat better economic situation. Takinginto consideration the impact of the social context in the sending country in twodifferent historical periods (before and after 2007) a nd in the receiving countrieswe focus on the differences of the transition paths of lower and higher skilled femalemigrants within the two migrant generations. The paper draws on a data baseof 42 qualitative interviews with Bulgarian migrants living in EU countries thatwere conducted in 2017 and an in -depth analysis of the life trajectories of fourwomenbelonging to the two migrant generations. Our findings suggest that facingdifferent structural constraints in their countries of departure and reception, youngpeople employ diverse st rategies of settling down, achieving success and attaininghappiness. In the process they transform their social ties and national identities.