Social Remittances and Modifications of Polish Intergenerational Care Cultures. Polish Migrants in Austria and Iceland and their Elderly Parents

The change of the Polish cultures of old age is taking place as a result of intense international movement of Poles, which affects the recomposition of family ties. The effect of international migration is the emergence of transnational families that operate across borders of nation states. The purpose of this article is to present – on the basis of both quantitative and qualitative research – a transnational family functioning in the early phase (70–79 years) and advanced (80+) ages of the generation of grandparents. In this article I show transnational forms of intergenerational care of elderly parents and the changes taking place in Polish cultures of old age as a result of international migration of a generation of adult children. The analysis presented in the paper expands the knowledge about intergenerational transfers in the context of international migration. In addition, by focusing on transnational practices, the impact of cultures of the host countries (Austria, Iceland) on changes in the Polish culture in the area of care on ageing people will be examined, thus enriching the literature on social remittances.