Immigration, transnationalism and household labour dynamics

The transformative nature of migration on families, and in particular, on couples, is well-documented. During the post-migration period, couples re-negotiate household responsibilities within a cultural and structural context. In this paper, we focus on the effect of migration on the gendered nature of domestic labour examining changes in four areas (chores, finances, maintenance and childcare). Our sample includes transnational and intact migrant Korean couples using data from the Toronto Korean Families Study – 2011 Survey. Preliminary results show that prior to migration, couples were similar in the allocation of household responsibilities. However, after migration there were significant differences between the two types of couples with intact migrant couples following a less gendered form of household organization.