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Imagining Care: Transnational Inequality and Older Age Prospects for Ukrainian Caregivers in Italy

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This article explores how Ukrainian migrant care workers in Italy imagine their own future care in older age while sustaining aging societies through paid work. The analysis is conceptually grounded in the critique of gendered transnational care chains. We ask how women working in senior care define sustainable care for themselves, how these visions relate to their professional trajectories and transnational family experiences, and how they negotiate dignity and security in later life. Empirically, the study draws on 16 biographical interviews with Ukrainian women aged between 37 and 72, conducted in Italy in 2024. We argue that a prolonged engagement in senior care produces both a critical awareness of care inequalities and volatile prospects for their own old age. This results in individualized strategies alongside emerging collective imaginaries of self‐organized care.

Source: Social Inclusion

DOI: 10.17645/si.12324

Authors: Oksana Dutchak, Olena Fedyuk, Anna Oksiutovych

Language: English

Topic: Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Decent work and economic growth, Gender equality

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,132

Funder: Volkswagen Foundation