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Family Migration as a Class Matter

Document Cited authorities 3 Cited in Related
AuthorEleonore Kofman
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12433
Date01 August 2018
Published date01 August 2018
Family Migration as a Class Matter
Eleonore Kofman*
ABSTRACT
Traditionally, family migration was conceptualized as a separate form of migration from labour
migration. Increasingly socio-economic criteria (labour market participation, language compe-
tence, f‌inancial resources, independence from welfare), have been applied to family migration
policies in Europe, and are harder to fulf‌il by those with a weaker labour market position.
Hence class now plays an increasingly signif‌icant role in stratifying the right to family migra-
tion. The article examines the imposition of minimum income requirements in three countries
–the Netherlands, Norway and the UK –and the signif‌icance of class in its economic and cul-
tural dimensions in meeting the requirement. For those without suff‌icient economic capital to
meet the requirement, cultural capital may facilitate the development of coping strategies to
overcome or reduce the duration of family separation. Class is not the only stratifying element:
gender, age and ethnicity interact with and reinforce the effects of class.
INTRODUCTION
Traditionally family migration was conceptualized as a separate form of migration, divorced from
labour migration which derived from economic imperatives. Increasingly however, socio-economic
criteria such as labour market participation, language competence, f‌inancial resources and indepen-
dence from welfare, have been applied to family migration policies in European states. These poli-
cies promote liberal notions of autonomy and self-responsibility (Ruffer, 2011; Schinkel and van
Houdt, 2010) but are harder to fulf‌il by those in a weaker or unstable labour market position.
Among those most likely to be affected are women, who are more likely to work part-time, earn
less (gender pay gap, segregated sectors) and have caring responsibilities, certain ethnic minorities,
the less skilled, and the young especially at a time of high youth unemployment.
In national regulations, class has come to play an increasingly signif‌icant role in stratifying the
right to family migration. Class facilitates or renders diff‌icult transnational family life (Fresnoza-
Flot and Shinozaki, 2016) through the outcomes of immigration policies in destination countries
and the ability to live family life in one place rather than as an enforced transnational existence.
Traditionally class had been theorized in relation to hierarchies and inequalities in material
resources, in particular position in the social division of labour and structures of wealth. After a
period of questioning the relevance of class as a category of societal analysis, the recent revival of
interest in class since the 1990s has embraced cultural dimensions such as consumption, cultural
practices and bodily performance (Kelly, 2012) and its intersections with other social divisions of
gender and race (Anthias, 2005; Sirriyeh 2015).
In policy terms, a growing culturalization of economic deprivation and a conf‌lation of economic
and cultural characteristics have emerged in what Bonjour and Duyvendak (2017) term the
“migrant with poor prospects”, often associated with racialized migrant groups, such as Moroccans,
*Social Policy Research Centre, Middlesex University
doi: 10.1111/imig.12433
©2018 The Author
International Migration ©2018 IOM
International Migration Vol. 56 (4) 2018
ISSN 0020-7985Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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