Gènere, llar i immigració internacional a Catalunya

Abstract

Gender relationships are key to understanding the number and the sociodemographic characteristics of the international migratory flows that have arrived in Catalonia over the past few years and they also explain the characteristics of the stocks of immigrants and their settlement process. In the case of Catalonia, we have to consider the higher educational levels attained by younger generations and their increasing incorporation into the labour market. This fact has revolutionised reproduction trends, with both biological and domestic ramifications. As regards consequences within the home, domestic work has become increasingly externalised. This has lead to a high demand for domestic workers and, by and large, foreign-born women have fulfilled this demand. In fact, among some nationalities, women have been the first to arrive in the migratory process. Migratory flows can be classified according to the gender composition of the first arrivals that show a significant imbalance in composition. These differences also exist in household composition and in the tasks that the household members carry out. In 2007 in Catalonia, one in six households included a foreign-born member in their composition. In these households, gender differences and imbalances in the stocks of immigrants inform us of the type of household and intra-household relationships. If, in general, a household typology can be described by a typical family life-cycle, in a household with foreign-born members we can observe significant disturbances caused by the migratory process, especially in the initial stages of immigration.