The problem of social protection of transnational families in Europe

Abstract

The presentation is inspired by the issues studied within the working group WG3 “Social rights and social protection of transnational families” of the COST Action CA21143 „Transnational Family Dynamics in Europe (TraFaDy)“. As a result of global mass migration, lot of families in nowadays are forced to organize their lives across the state borders. One of the main tensions raised by such situation is social integration of so-called transnational families in the countries of destination. The phenomenon of social integration is multi-layered, therefore, the presentation is focused on selected social integration aspect only – social protection of transnational families’ members in European countries. The problem is that most current social protection schemes were created for the citizens of national countries, and are based on social solidarity and social transfers at national level. When members of the family migrate to other country, a question emerges: who protects them in case of social risk – home country or country of destination? In case of social risks experienced by the migrants – European Union citizens, the latter question is more or less solved. Though, for social protection of migrants from Third countries, schemes still need to be transformed and adapted. The presentation is based on the systematized social protection documents existing at national, international and supranational levels. Also, illustrations on social protection of immigrants settled in Lithuania provided.