“I’m integrated, but not in a Maltese way” : motherhood, migration and belonging in Malta

Abstract

This research aims at exploring how, if at all, being a mother of young children affect migrant women’s sense of identity, belonging and integration within the Maltese society. It seeks to understand the way migrant women residing with their young children in Malta understand and narrate their self and the challenges they face, related to social, economic and cultural integration. Between tradition and modernity, Malta seems at the crossroads in terms of both migration and gender. Recent migration trends have resulted in a sharp increase of the share of the foreign-born population in Malta, accounting to 11.8% in 2018, questioning the country’s ability to absorb such an influx of newcomers and its evolution into a diverse, multicultural and multi-ethnic country. Despite significant socio-cultural and legal changes related to gender and women’s rights in the recent years, the Maltese society remains fairly gender unequal, with the highest female inactivity rate and one of the lowest female representation in decision-making positions in Europe. Within this interesting context, this research was conducted as a qualitative, exploratory fieldwork, informed by a feminist approach and guided by intersectionality and standpoint theory. Through seventeen qualitative semi-structured interviews, this work aimed at understanding how social, intersectional categories affect the diversity of the experiences of migrant mothers in Malta. Confirming previous research in islands’ context, this works unravels language politics and social networks dynamics, that result in mixed feelings about integration and belonging among migrant mothers. Findings also shed light on how migrant mothers’ lives, despite their diversity, seem to be structured by the nature and availability of care, creating additional barriers to integration and socialization. Finally, this work highlights how socio economic class, legal status and citizenship heavily determine migrant women’s experiences, sense of belonging and integration, including within the migrant community itself. Socio-economic class appears to be a key factor in the ability to compensate for the motherhood penalty in migration.