Título
Work-life balance of Eastern European migrants in Portugal
Autor
Flenova, Vera
Resumo
en
his study is devoted to the balance between work and life the Eastern European
migrants manage to obtain. Work and life balance is considered as one of the core factors for
the quality of life of the individual. Processes of migration and integration of migrants make
the attainment of the work-life balance even more complicated and involve more resources.
In this work the work and personal life balance of migrants is being analysed from the
following perspectives: occupation, family life, childcare, expectations that they had before
the migration and that they have towards future, migration experience, leisure in the sense of
how they spend their free time, socialization in new society and participation in civil
activities. The balance between work and family life is being studied regarding theoretical
framework of the demands-resources approach. As one of the objectives of the study was to
measure the satisfaction context of the Eastern European migrants in Portugal this approach
was considered interesting by the author.
For the study 10 in-depth interviews and 102 online questionnaires were collected.
Most of them reported that their life has changed a lot compared to the country of origin. As
well the majority of respondents claimed to be satisfied with the quality of life and balance of
work and life they are gaining in their new country.
The traditional model of the family widely spread in Eastern European countries
where women are responsible for childcare and domestic work highly influence the behaviour
that migrants are reporting. Work is still more important for men, while women are fulfilling
all the family support activities. Nevertheless, the level of satisfaction with division of
responsibilities is higher among the female sample.