Family child-raising and educational strategies among European mixed couples

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to cast light on children’s upbringing and education in families of mixed EU nationality living in Lisbon. After a brief introduction, I will dedicate the first two parts to the theoretical contextualization of European mixed couples as a new family arrangement born of EU social integration; as to entail, thereafter, an attentive reflection on issues related to transnational children’s upbringing. Qualitative evidence from 24 in-depth interviews with three different groups of couples (Portuguese women married to European men; Portuguese men married to European women; married non-Portuguese European couples of different nationalities) is then presented and discussed. The findings reveal that when certain variables - children’s language capabilities, type of school, and social networks - are taken into account, three types of educational strategy emerge: a family assimilation strategy, a bi-national family strategy and a peripatetic family strategy. I conclude with a critical appreciation of the role these family strategies play in the research on child-raising among migrants and minorities in environments involving cultural heterogeneity.