Welfare, Work and Migration from a Gender Perspective: Back to ‘family settings’?

Since the collapse of the Soviet system, many significant changes have occurred, not only in the former socialist countries, but also in western societies. One remarkable change is the mass of post-Soviet emigration from the former Soviet Union. In this article, we analyse the everyday welfare experienced by the Russian immigrant women living in the border area of Eastern Finland. We study the interrelation of family relations, the experienced welfare, transnational care, and work in the lives of Russian migrant women in North Karelia. According to the analysis, we argue that the welfare of Russian immigrant women is mainly produced by their family networks and precarious work.