The closing circle of migrations: the case of Ecuadorian women going to and coming back from Spain

Abstract

The present dissertation will start by analysing two of the most important contemporary outcomes of globalisation: the feminisation of migration and the global care chain. Looking in depth into these two issues will provide the starting point to this work. Secondly, the case of Ecuadorian migrant women will be analysed from two different points of view. The first one will be that of women leaving Ecuador going to Spain: this will allow us to look at their socio-economic status, focusing on the labour niches they occupy and the consequences of this labour segregation, on the risks implied in domestic and care work, and on the interesting impact Covid 19 pandemic had on their work. The second flow to be analysed will be that of women coming back to Ecuador from Spain, following the opposite route: through this work, we will analyse the impact of the sociological phenomenon of transnational families and economic crises on the decision of “coming back”, and the difficult labour (and therefore social) situation these returning women will fall in. The aim of this work is to analyse the factors involved in Ecuadorian women’s migration, in particular focusing on the role of transnational families as both a pushing and pulling factor, and their position in the labour market of Spain and Ecuador.