Extended Kinship and Mobility: The Influence of Non-Nuclear Family Ties on the Migration of Young Ukrainians

Abstract

The nuclear family, consisting of children, mother and father, is often the primary unit of analysis in migration studies. However, this approach has been criticised for its normative context. More recently, scholars have emphasized the relational perspective and multi-layered family ties when debating the notion of family. Based on qualitative anthropological research in Western Ukraine and in the Czech Republic, this article adopts this approach by focusing on how the family practices of young Ukrainians (aged 15–16 at the time of migration) challenge the nuclear family framework. These young people are the first migrants from their nuclear families in the Czech Republic, while their parents have remained in Ukraine. The text focuses on the financial support, emotional support, and practical assistance provided to them by their relatives, demonstrating that parents were still important in all three categories, while cousins were significant in providing emotional support.