The Italian-Ukrainian Care Chain

The manuscript is devoted to the analysis of the care chain between Italy and Ukraine, which is a highly feminised and multi-sided phenomenon. The focus is kept on such aspects as organisation of transnational welfare, transnational families and care drain in Ukraine. Pushed by the unstable socio-economic situation and necessity in Ukraine, Ukrainian women emigrate to Italy to perform care work and domestic work. Supplying their labour Ukrainian migrant women meet the ¿care deficit¿ in Italy and satisfy welfare needs of the Italian state, families and individuals, especially elderly. However, a large-scale female emigration from Ukraine results in the (¿broken¿) transnational families and care drain which require further adaptation to the new practices and experiences of the transnational motherhood and childhood. Additionally, care drain has its dramatic consequences for the Ukrainian society, especially in a long-term prospective.