Journal of Family Studies
ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjfs20
Diaspora grand-mothering in Nigeria
Dauda Aderemi Busari & Kudus Oluwatoyin Adebayo
To cite this article: Dauda Aderemi Busari & Kudus Oluwatoyin Adebayo (2022): Diaspora grand-
mothering in Nigeria, Journal of Family Studies, DOI: 10.1080/13229400.2022.2034659
To link to this article:  https://doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2022.2034659
Published online: 04 Feb 2022.
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JOURNAL OF FAMILY STUDIES
https://doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2022.2034659
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Diaspora grand-mothering in Nigeria
Dauda Aderemi Busari a and Kudus Oluwatoyin Adebayo b
aDepartment of Sociology, Faculty of the Social Sciences, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria; bInstitute of
African Studies, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY
Leaving children in the care of grandparents is a fairly common Received 24 May 2021
practice in close knit societies such as Nigeria. This service of Accepted 24 January 2022
providing childcare by grandmothers is however taking a
transnational form with the exportation of grandmothers from KEYWORDSGrandchildren;
Nigeria to care for grandchildren whose parents, out of economic grandparenting; Nigeria; role
necessity, must work fulltime. This article explores the dynamics theory; transnational
of Nigerian grandmothers providing childcare to grandchildren in childcare
the diaspora, using twenty-five grandmothers selected in Ibadan,
Southwest Nigeria based on their experience of this phenomena.
Study found that participants were motivated to undertake
diaspora childcare out of empathy for the younger couples, the
feeling of a sense of duty, perceived knowledge of childcare, self-
fulfilment, cultural norms, and the need to minimize the cost of
childcare for couples in the diaspora. The sense of being
‘available’ played a significant role in participants’ decision to
provide childcare abroad. The study equally showed that the
practice had both emotional and social impact on the
grandmothers involved. The research advances the significance of
diaspora grandmother child care services as a critical part of the
broader debate on companionship and gender roles in old age,
especially in Africa, where elders remain key transmitters of
societal norms and values.
Introduction
Leaving children in the care of grandparents is a common practice in most societies
although considerable variability and culture-specific beliefs and practices exist (Aubel,
2005, p. 2006; Martínez-Martínez et al., 2019; Smith & Wild, 2019). Numerous studies
demonstrate the continuing importance of intergenerational relationships and exchanges
in which grandparents are centrally placed (Aassve et al., 2012; Backhouse & Graham,
2010; Goh, 2009; Hank & Buber, 2009; Jenkins, 2010; Knodel & Nguyen, 2014; Lou &
Chi, 2012; Settles et al., 2009). Perceived in some cultures as ‘bonus parents’ (Singh,
2014), grandparents who cross national boundaries to provide childcare have been
described as ‘diasporas of care’ (Williams 2001; as cited in Lie, 2010). The need to
explore and understand the dynamics of the engagement of grandparents has attracted
significant scholarly effort. Singh (2014) posits that grandparenting is an overlooked
aspect of the diasporic experience. He observes that seniors who engaged actively in
CONTACT Dauda Aderemi Busari dabusari@gmail.com
© 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
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2 D. A. BUSARI AND K. O. ADEBAYO
the care of grandchildren express happiness and satisfaction in their roles during the
post-retirement years. In making the point that grandparental care is almost universal
in migrant communities, Lie (2010) finds that grandparents are willing to travel across
borders to help their children with childcare. Adopting the social network analysis to
examine and compare the transnational dimensions of grandparenting in Chinese and
Bangladeshi communities in the UK, Lie (2010) highlights that grandparental care is
an essential element in childcare provision, regardless of whether grandparents co-
reside with their children or visit them from abroad for a short period of time. Hence,
in some immigrant communities, family reunion schemes in host countries are leveraged
upon to import grandparental care (Singh, 2014).
Mitchell (2007) contends that the literature on grandparenting has not looked into the
support needs of the grandparents themselves. This charge becomes particularly critical
giving the condition of diaspora grandparenting. Among Chinese immigrants in Canada,
Zhou (2012) submits that transnational care transforms the situation of grandparents
from ageing ‘in place’ to ageing on the move. Moreover, while transnational grandpar-
enting is indicative of the resource mobilization capability of skilled Chinese immigrants,
he contends that the practice ruptures traditional trajectories of ageing of grandparents
and complicates their experiences of inequalities (Zhou, 2012). Sometimes, grandparents
leave their spouses behind, and it is also not unusual for them to leave their own elderly
parents when they travel abroad to give care (Lie, 2010).
Apart from the care giving roles involved in grandparenting and the problems arising
from the practice, feminist framing suggests that familism which constrains grand-
mothers to provide intergenerational care, reinforces traditional gender ideology (Lee
& Bauer, 2013). However, that view has been criticized for excessively feminizing grand-
parenthood discourse so much that the role of grandfathers is underexplored. Mann
(2007, p. 282) observes that there is a ‘gendered understanding of grandparenthood
drawn from the experiences of grandmothers… ’ This is fore grounded by the fact
that grandmothers play a more prominent role as caregivers than grandfathers (Lee &
Bauer, 2013; Lie, 2010). Both positions are however central to our understanding of
the dynamics of grandparenthood in general and diaspora grand-mothering in
particular.
In Nigeria, the rate of grandmothers taking residency in their children’s homes is high.
This is in spite of urbanity and rise of the practice of nuclear family. Grandmothers relo-
cate to their children’s residence especially upon the delivery of a new-born in a practice
known asOmugwo, Ojojo Omo and Jagowithin Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa cultures respect-
ively. This indigenous postpartum care presents opportunity for younger mothers to
learn from older women (Obikeze, 1997).
Consequent upon the social, economic and political changes that compelled many
Nigerians to migrate outside the country, the discharge of this role has taken a transna-
tional turn especially with the large and growing Nigerian diaspora communities in the
Global North and many other countries in Europe (De Haas, 2006; IOM, 2014; James
et al., 2014; Mberu & Pongou, 2010; Reynolds, 2004). However, studies are yet to
examine transnational care giving among Nigerian grandmothers. Probing this phenom-
enon is essential since diaspora grand-mothering could be complicated given the patri-
archal nature of the Nigerian society. Transnational care giving that leaves husbands
behind may rupture existing gender norms, including those related to household
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JOURNAL OF FAMILY STUDIES 3
chores (Akanle & Oluwakemi, 2012). If the husband is aged, loneliness may set in or
worsen with the absence of other children or supportive relationships. Besides, libidinous
husbands have to put their sexual desire on hold while those who fall sick may have to
undergo treatment and recovery without the care of their long-term partners.
This article, therefore, explores the implications of Nigerian grandmothers providing
child care services beyond the borders of Nigeria. Based on the experiences of twenty-five
selected grandmothers who are based in Ibadan metropolis and who have at one point
provided this diasporic service, the article identifies and explains the factors shaping
their involvement in diaspora care giving to grandchildren, the benefits and challenges,
and particularly how it impacts on their husbands. The study adds to the literature on the
roles of grandparents and the participation of Nigerian grandmothers in transnational
childcare. Important however is how we explore the issue within the precepts of symbolic
interactionalist role theory. The study engages diaspora grand-mother child care service
as a critical part of the broader debate on companionship and gender roles in old age,
especially in Africa where older people remain key transmitters of social values.
Grandparenting and diaspora grand-mothering
Globally, many grandparents are involved in the care of their grandchildren (Michel
et al., 2019; Settles et al., 2009; Smith & Wild, 2019). A multi-country survey found
that in Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, a substantial proportion of people aged 60
and above co-reside with grandchildren whom they care for (Knodel & Nguyen,
2014). Similar findings emerged in Xiamen, China, where grandparents form an integral
part of grandchildren care and general family life (Goh, 2009). Many non-Western cul-
tures justify grandparental roles in the promotion of family and collective well-being
(Lou & Chi, 2012). Grandparenting is gendered involving mostly grandmothers, even
in Europe where only a minority perform grandparental roles (Koslowski, 2009).
In Africa, proverbs reveal grand-parentage as a means of familial and community
good. A Senegalese proverb, for instance, states that ‘a house without a grandmother
is like a road that goes nowhere.’ Scholars too affirmed the significance of grandmothers
in African cultures, their vast experience in child care, and their demonstrable commit-
ment to the promotion of the well-being of whole families (Aubel, 2005; Michel et al.,
2019).Young African women are socialized into womanhood by older women, with
care giving and child nurturing roles forming the basis of their identity as wives and
mothers (Afisi, 2010). This role is perpetuated later in life when as grandmothers them-
selves, these hitherto young women transform into transmitters of indigenous knowledge
on childcare and development (Aubel, 2006).
The widespread involvement of grandparents in the care of grandchildren is not
unconnected to the benefits accruing from the practice. Henderson et al. (2009) state
that the process of raising grandchildren offers a new focus for family relationships
and can rekindle previously lost intimacy across generations. Another view indicates
that in caring for grandchildren, both grandparents and parents benefit: grandparents
develop bonds with their grandchildren while the children in turn, benefit through the
freedom and time flexibilities accorded to them by the presence of grandparents
(Jenkins, 2010). In a large study conducted in 11 European countries, the availability
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4 D. A. BUSARI AND K. O. ADEBAYO
of grandparents to provide care giving assistance was shown to influence individual fer-
tility decisions (Aassve et al., 2012).
Diaspora grandparenting, however, requires a grandparent to migrate to another
country. Diaspora or transnational grandparenting is a response to the problem of inter-
national migration, family formation, childcare and cultural issues. According to Sigad
and Eisikovits (2013), transnational migration of persons creates cultural gaps and
emotional distance as grandparents may be unable to play grandparenting roles effec-
tively because of geographical distance. Moving across national borders is often the
only way to close the distance and bonding gaps. As a growing practice in immigrant
communities, transnational grandparental care is valued as an obligation.
Multiple causes shape the phenomenon of transnational grandparenting, including
‘migration status, cultural differences, family values, and gender role practices brought
from the home country, as well as individual circumstances’ (Da, 2003, p. 98). The
role of grandparents in transnational childcare is also growing because of the increasing
participation of mothers in the workforce and a general rise in dual-income households
(Lee & Bauer, 2013; Singh, 2014).
Whatever the scale of involvement and drivers, grandparenting is fraught with many
challenges. Lie (2010) alludes to the migration problems and powerlessness that grand-
parents feel in deciding whether to offer childcare transnationally. Based on the case of
Chinese grandparents in Canada, he maintains that grandparents are often powerless to
refuse invitation as they feel obligated for cultural reasons and because they perceive that
their help is crucial for the proper adjustment of their children in a foreign country. In
transnational grandparenting roles, some grandparents feel abandoned by their children
(Singh, 2014). The problem of language is also not unusual in this circumstance. Grand-
parents, who are mostly elderly, often travel out of their countries of origin for the first
time, usually alone and without requisite language skills. The differential of language
competency has been shown to account for differences in adjustment and the feeling
of homesickness among grandmothers from different countries of origin (Lie, 2010).
While some argue that transnational grandparenting is neither traditional nor
modern, but a practice adopted to meet family needs (Da, 2003), it is almost impossible
to explain the phenomenon outside dynamics of contemporary globalization and the
immigration conditions of the contemporary world. In particular, migration, the trans-
national search for employment, and realities of urban living have led to changes in dom-
estic economies and household decision making, while transforming traditional sex-
based divisions of labour and power. Considering how international migration has trans-
formed the modalities of family life and parenting, Nigeria makes a good case for sustain-
ing this claim. Since the 1980s, the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) has
contributed to state failure and led to a rise in social problems that resulted in out-
migration from Nigeria (Akanle, 2011; Mberu & Pongou, 2010; Omobowale, 2013).
Many of these Nigerian migrants travelled without their parents and eventually settled
in the United States, Canada, and Europe. This settlement occasioned marriages and
the production of offspring. In the United States, for instance, one commissioned
study reports about 376,000 Nigerian immigrants and their children live there with
about 163,000 US-born being second-generation immigrants (Migration Policy Institute,
2015). This figure is a significant increase from the estimated population of 25,000 in
1980. Mberu and Pongou (2010), citing the Annual Population Survey of the UK
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JOURNAL OF FAMILY STUDIES 5
Office for National Statistics, state that about 154,000 foreign-born Nigerians lived in the
United Kingdom in 2009, which makes Nigeria the second top source-country for
African migration to the United Kingdom. While this Nigerian diaspora continues to
grow, there is a limited understanding of how traditional care resources are being trans-
nationalized. Specifically, there is no clear understanding of how Nigerian grandmothers
perform grand-mothering roles, nor is there much scholarship on the benefits of such
engagement and its challenges.
However, even though grandparents generally have persistent feelings of obligation to,
and care for, their grandchildren (Mitchell, 2008), Da, 2003; Lie, 2010 have argued that
grandparents and their potential visits to provide care to grandchildren abroad are, con-
strained by immigration policies of destination countries and thus their movements are
not framed only by their grandchildren’s needs, resources and agency, but it is also driven
by the migration policies and visa regimes of the countries of immigration. This is even
more so in the era of covid-19 epidemiological uncertainty that has halted the outbound
and inbound ban of all international travels and placed a restriction on intra-country
human movements (Wyplosz, 2020)
Conceptualizing role theory
Role theory is a sociological perspective shaped by theorists working within the structural
and symbolic interactionist traditions (Biddle, 2000). Role theorists observed a similarity
between social life and the theatre wherein actors play predictable roles (Biddle, 2000).
Some of its assumptions are traceable to earlier sociological and social psychological
research, with the most critical formulations surfacing in the work of Ralph Linton
from the 1930s, and Talcott Parsons who wanted to construct a framework of how the
human society functions (Scott, 2006).
‘Role’ means the ‘structured social expectations to which individuals orientate
themselves’ (Scott, 2006, p. 144). Linton identified two aspects of social roles; the
static ‘positional’ aspect and the dynamic aspect which is the role behaviour (Scott,
2006). For Linton, the positional aspect of roles which has rights and obligations
attached to it is defined by the cultural systems of the specific societies that people
find themselves. Labels such as father, mother, son, daughter, worker, and others
would have associated role behaviours as defined by the cultural system of the
society. Position and role behaviours are, therefore, the essential constitutive
elements of role theory (Scott, 2006). Biddle, 2000, p. 2415 summarises role theory
thus:
… the tendency for human behaviors to form characteristic patterns that may be predicted if
one knows the social context in which those behaviors appear. It explains those behavior
patterns, (or roles) by assuming that persons within a context appear as members of recog-
nized social identities (or positions) and that they and others hold ideas (expectations) about
behaviors in that setting.
Hence, wherever social groups exist, norms that define roles for different categories of
individuals in that group also exist. Such role definition is the basis of social differen-
tiation and prescription of the part different individuals are expected to play during inter-
actions and in social life generally.
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6 D. A. BUSARI AND K. O. ADEBAYO
The contribution of symbolic interactionists to role theory arose as an attempt to navi-
gate the criticismof ideological bias levelled against the structuralist role theorists.Owing to
its connection to structural-functionalism, structuralist role theory was charged with ‘pro-
mulgating a one-sided view of social behaviour emphasizing consensus, cooperation, and
continuity in social life at the expense of disagreement, conflict, and change, and as ratio-
nalizing the subservience of persons to the social order’ (Stryker, 2001, p. 220). Critics cri-
ticized structuralist role theory as denying human agency in social processes, favouring
instead a view of human beings as obedient and conforming or subservient to social norms.
Symbolic interactionist role theory on the other hand aims to transcend the determi-
nistic view of structuralist by asserting simply that roles are ‘the shared and inherited
ideas that guide and inform behaviour but do not determine it’ (Scott, 2006, p. 144).
Even though people occupy positions which have associated role behaviours, they are
nonetheless creative and innovative with individual agency and thoughtfulness of
purpose which make it possible for them to reconstruct or transform social roles. Sym-
bolic interactionist role theorists see:
… role as a lineof action that ispursuedby the individualwithinagivencontext.Roles are affected
by various forces, including pre-existing norms applying to the social position of the actor, beliefs
and attitudes that the actor holds, the actor’s conception and portrayal of self, and the “definition
of the situation” that evolves as the actor and others interact (Stryker, 2001, p. 2417).
This view of role theory is particularly relevant to this study because it recognises the
possibility of role reconstruction which can result from exercise of agency on account of
conflict and incompatibility of roles in social life.
Although the concept of ‘role’ is used frequently in grandparenting literature, the
word is rarely problematized. From the symbolic interactionist perspective of role
theory, we can ask how the phenomenon of diasporic grand-mothering ‘freezes’ and
transform roles between grandparents. We argue that ‘role freezing’ and ‘role transfer’
due to the role disruption caused by diaspora grand-mothering complicates gendered
positions and expected role behaviours and social relations. This occurs because the par-
ticipation of grandmothers in diaspora care giving potentiates role frictions which may
challenge structured role expectations.
InAfrica and formothers especially, babies are a rare gift that serves a physical reminder
of the love of parents. It is thus important that after delivery parents have a task to take care
of the children in the best ways they can think of. However, for the first-time parents, chal-
lenges of taking care of newly born child can be daunting and often requires the assistance
of families, friends and neighbours (Busari et al. 2017). In Nigeria, traditional postpartum
care practises to welcome a newborn baby into the embrace of the family gives the new
mother a ease into the new role through the experiences of her mother or her husband’s
mother. Traditionally, postpartum care is the responsibility of the mother of the
husband or of the wife. It is desire to assist put the new mother through nutritional
needs to help with the production of breast milk for baby’s consumption.
Materials and methods
The study is an exploratory cross-sectional research conducted between October 2018
and July 2019 in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. A complementary qualitative research
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JOURNAL OF FAMILY STUDIES 7
technique, the In-Depth Interview (IDI) was deployed for data collection. This approach
gives room for a detailed understanding of the topic understudy and allowed for adequate
forum for self-expression. We obtained data through in-depth interviews with Twenty-
five purposively selected grandmothers in the Ibadan metropolis of Oyo State, Southwest,
Nigeria. Interviews were conducted in person using a semi-structured interview guide in
the language of choice i.e. (Yoruba, Pidgin English and English Language) of the partici-
pants. The interviews were back translated into English Language for the purpose of
analysis. The study was conducted among Nigerian grandmothers, irrespective of
socio-economic class status who had at one time or the other travelled abroad on
account of going to help their ‘Documented Migrant’ children in the diaspora to tend
their newly born babies. The purposive approach was utilized because the participants
for the study are limited in number. The snowballing sampling technique was also
employed in the identification of respondents as the technique benefits the exploratory
studies to locate participants of the research population whom is known to them. The
average age of the grandmothers was 60 years, while the oldest among them was aged
73 years. The average age of parents in the diaspora was put at 35. They had between
one and two children who reside mainly in the United States and the United
Kingdom. Their children were employed in professional occupations such as law,
nursing, medicine other highly skilled professions. At one time or another, all partici-
pants had engaged in diaspora grand-mothering at the invitation of their children,
spending a minimum of three months and a maximum of six months, with a few of
them having travelled to provide childcare service more than once. Three, out of the
twenty-five participants were retired from public and private establishments at the
time of data collection. The other ten who were still in active employment were in the
non-governmental sector and private school administration. We recorded and tran-
scribed all interviews and observed relevant ethical principles throughout the research
process, including the principle of informed consent and confidentiality. Data analysis
involved thematic and content analyses. We reviewed transcripts and compared the
cases to generate themes and identify patterns and divergences. Findings were presented
using ethnographic summaries and direct quotes.
Results
Socio-demographic profile of participants
Participants comprised businesswomen, career women/employees, housewives and petty
traders. Eleven of the women are full-time housewives; five are businesswomen, three are
middle cadre civil servants and the others participants are not economically active.
All the grandmothers understand the value of education and would not like to see their
children left out or become second-class citizens and so have invested heavily in the edu-
cation of their children abroad. The participants enjoy a variety of hobbies and interests.
Their common interests includes, watching movies (Nigerian home video mainly) and
soap opera, listening to music, Singing, dancing, cooking, visiting friends and family
occasionally, reading lifestyle magazines and novels (some), taking care of the home
front, attending specific parties, swimming and enjoying time on the internet Majority
of the grandmothers are (17) married, three are separated, and five are divorced. The
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8 D. A. BUSARI AND K. O. ADEBAYO
participants’ have the dream of achieving greatness through their children and grandchil-
dren. In their children’s success, they are assured that they are good parents. They also see
hope and assurance that they will be well taken care of in their twilight years. To this end,
the grandmothers pay attention, within the family’s means, to providing quality education
to their children. They hope that these children will excel and achieve even greater heights
and recognition than they have in society. In the words of one of the participants
My dream is to become a good mother for my children and a good grandmother for my
children’s children, a successful business woman and a good wife to my husband. (IDI,
52 years)
While another also buttressed the point by saying
My children andmy children’s children are my priority now and among my grandchildren, I
pray to have lawyer, doctor and an artist… I want to be international persons that will be
announced wherever they go… I want a brighter future for them and will sacrifice my hap-
piness for theirs. (IDI, 57 years)
Travel expenses that are directly related to the trips that may include airfare, visa pro-
curements and other expenses including the logistics are borne by the children. The
availability for the role of grand mothering abroad however varies and discretionary
than others across different points in the life of every participant. Thus, younger partici-
pants may wish to spend more quality time with the family at home because of their other
younger children who are not married and their husbands who still requires their atten-
tion and love than the older grandmothers, who are either who either widowed or sep-
arated and no longer engage in sex with their husbands.
Involvement in diaspora grand-mothering: motivations and drivers
Although Nigerian grandmothers participate in diaspora grand-mothering, little docu-
mentation exists on the factors that motivate them to participate. Motivation, therefore,
was one of the issues we explored. Based on the frequency of mentions and the depth of
explanations offered, participants were motivated to undertake diaspora grand-mother-
ing because of empathy, a feeling of a sense of duty, perceived knowledge of childcare,
self-fulfilment, cultural norms and the quest to minimize the cost of childcare for
couples in the diaspora. On empathy, the respondents expressed concern about the well-
being of their children and grandchildren. They perceived diaspora life as challenging
and that couples have difficulty accessing social support necessary for coping with child-
birth. Newly delivered mothers were thought to be physically weak and that in the
absence of help, there is a possibility that her health would deteriorate.
I felt both new parents have no relative over there, and for them to be well catered for, some-
body must be there with them, especially the baby and the mother. Because after delivery,
the mother needs to rest, and not [to be] here and there to buy things or cook. Somebody
must be on the ground to assist. (IDI 1, 68 years)
A fundamental understanding from this quotation is that even while abroad and
embedded in a new cultural milieu, traditionally gendered roles are not frozen nor sus-
pended for Nigerian women upon childbirth. If no one is around, new mothers are
expected to keep up with chores such as cooking and shopping. Knowing that continuing
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JOURNAL OF FAMILY STUDIES 9
these activities during early periods after childbirth could have negative impacts on the
mothers, grandmothers feel that they must be on hand to help alleviate the burden.
The second factor is the feeling of duty towards one’s children and grandchildren. In
spite of the distance, helping out with newborns babies is considered part of grand-
mothers’ responsibilities. Some grandmothers recalled how they too benefitted from
their mothers sense of duty towards them. One grandmother stated that ‘as the
mother-in-law, when your child gives birth, it is your duty to go and take care of the
baby’ (IDI, 68 years), another said she was motivated ‘because my own mother came
to stay with me when I had my children’ (IDI, 73 years).
Third, the participants perceived themselves as possessing childcare knowledge that is
worth sharing. While acknowledging that hospitals and live-in help can assist with the
care of newborns, one grandmother pointed out that the knowledge of such carers is
limited. Commenting on the inadequacy of nannies for instance, one participant insisted
that even though it might cost more to invite grandmothers to a foreign country, it was
worth the cost as a ‘nanny may not take care of the baby the way I will like it handled’
(IDI, 68 years).
A fourth factor is that grand-mothering is a means to achieve personal fulfilment.
Grand-mothering is considered a role to look forward to as it signals continuity and
familial perpetuation.
It is good to be a grandmother, to see your grandchildren and nurse them. To say ‘this is my
child, my own grandson or daughter’ is what everybody is looking forward to achieving. It is
a status that I enjoy. (IDI, 60 years)
On cultural norms, the involvement of a grandmother in the life of her child is an
expectation for many women at a certain age or when such child starts to have
offspring. One of the participants made an explicit reference to this cultural expectation
(IDI 4, 60 years) as motivation, only that it meant going to the diaspora to fulfil the obli-
gation. On minimizing the cost of childcare, participants admitted that while diaspora
couples can recruit help in their countries of residence, they (the grandmothers) con-
sidered themselves to be a cheaper alternative. As one of them said, ‘it costs a fortune
to hire people to take care of the children… it takes a fortune to nurture them most
especially when they are very young’ (IDI, 69 years).
‘Nothing will happen if I decided not to go’: agency and diaspora grand-
mothering
While grandmothers have shared-motivations to engage in diaspora grand-mothering,
the context of availability which is shaped by work status, grandmother’s age, and grand-
father’s approval were prominent in the decision to provide childcare abroad. Availability
is critical because grandmothers are social actors embedded in their respective environ-
ments. In the case of some of the participants in this study, they were still in active service
when the need to care for grandchildren arose. In fact, one of them was still a serving
school principal at the time of the interview and her work status had at some point inhib-
ited her from travelling:
At the time my son had a baby in the US, it was his mother-in-law who was a university lec-
turer that could go. This was because of the flexibility in lecturers’ schedule. (IDI 3, 69 years)
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10 D. A. BUSARI AND K. O. ADEBAYO
This implies some form of negotiation in who goes for the diaspora grand-mothering
engagement. For instance, if both mothers of the diaspora couples are alive, a decision is
made regarding who would goes to care for the grandchild. This decision is also contin-
gent on the preference of the couple, the occupation of the grandmothers, their age/
health status and visa access:
It is the person that is available at that time [that would go abroad]… some in-laws are very
old [and] can’t make the journey. So, the other parent will have to go. Not [that] she is not
competent but because of age. (IDI, 60 years)
Although cultural expectations demand that couples and grandmothers become inter-
dependent at the birth of a child, grandmothers possess agency through which they nego-
tiate availability. One grandmother did not believe that grand-mothering assistance is
forced. Ruling out the audacity of compulsion, another participant identified negotiation
as the basis of diaspora grand-mothering. She said; ‘nothing will happen if I decided not
to go;… there wouldn’t be any cause for alarm. They can request for me to come, I can
say I can’t come.’ (IDI, 60 years).
Furthermore, the extent of involvement of grandmothers in new mothers’ pregnancy
impact on the decision to partake in diaspora grand-mothering. The basic operant in this
situation is information sharing in which the diaspora couple informs their parents about
conception and child delivery date. This allows grandmothers to prepare for trips in
advance:
They [diaspora couples] would have served a long notice when they get pregnant.… So, you
will have time to prepare and ask yourself: am I going or not? So, there is ample time for you
to make the necessary arrangements. (IDI, 60 years)
Advance knowledge about conception becomes critical when it is interrogated along
with the fact that some grandmothers must make proper pre-departure arrangements for
their husbands. Most pre-departure arrangements revolve around gender roles associated
with wifehood, such as house chores and feeding. On this, the husbands of grandmothers
still have considerable influence on availability as grandmothers often seek approval from
their husbands. This means that in many instances, grandfathers often play decisive roles
in the availability of diaspora grand-mothers. One participant said her husband was ‘the
one that sent me.…He is the one that would say these children need your help’ (IDI, 60
years). Another participant said that her husband told her to:
“‘Go and help with the baby.” He gave me every support to go there…He understood that
once you are married, you can call your mother to help with something like that [i.e. child-
care]’ (IDI, 60 years).
Another participant stated that ‘my daughter requested for me to come, and took per-
mission from daddy [i.e. grandfather]. [Italicised texts for emphasis] (IDI 3, 69 years)
Some grandmothers revealed that they would prefer to have their spouses with them
when abroad. For instance, a 60 years old grandmother whose two children reside in the
UK said she never travelled for childcare without her husband. On one occasion when
she travelled alone, the logistics and timing of her grandchildren’s school calendar
were responsible. Worry for her husband’s wellbeing while she was away and a deeper
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JOURNAL OF FAMILY STUDIES 11
concern that her absence could provide opportunity for extramarital affair and poten-
tially threaten her marriage were her reasons.
Any child that needs you should bundle both of you because there have been cases where
men stray. A man at his old age [referring to her husband] will need the comfort of a
woman beside him. If the woman is not there, any other person can take advantage of
that situation. So, when that situation arises, who is to blame? It is rampant all over the
place that husbands derail before the wives return from nurturing grandchildren. Biblically,
they [i.e. men] are not supposed to be left alone. (IDI, 69 years)
Practices and experiences of grand-mothering in the diaspora
Although most grandmothers travelled abroad after the birth of their grandchildren, one
participant arrived before her grandchild was born. Regardless, the roles they played were
the same. Importantly, it involved a combination of tasks and responsibilities which
transcend beyond looking after newborns. For instance, when asked to describe her
role, a participant replied that ‘I do every other thing apart from breastfeeding the
baby’ (IDI, 60 years). Sometimes, they performed these roles under uncomfortable situ-
ations as in the case of the grandmother who resided along the US–Canada border during
her visit:
I wake up very early in the morning, even before the mother wakes up.… It was during
the winter period. I wake up early to take care of the children – they were three then.… I
cook, we go shopping together. I take the children to school, welcome them home etc. On
the baby, I wash and administer medicine to her, wrap her and put her to bed. (IDI, 47
years)
Besides serving as cooks, house cleaners and nannies, some played the role of coun-
sellors to inexperienced mothers. With an understanding that the early post-partum
period is tough on mothers, grandmothers also functioned as massage therapists and
‘psychiatrists’ when the need arose.
After delivery, I felt she needed to rest, so I assisted her in cooking, I massaged her stomach,
bathed the baby, cleaned [the house]. At times when she is sleeping and the baby is crying, I’ll
pet the baby. At times when she is confused, she comes to me for information. (IDI, 68 years)
Also, the care provided to their grandchildren covers aspects of play, visiting parks and
dropping school-age grandchildren at the school.
One fundamental question that arises from this is: would there have been a difference
if they were in Nigeria? Some of the participants stated that different care regimens
existed at home and abroad, with many favouring what obtains in Nigeria. They favoured
the baby care practice in Nigeria despite their inability or unwillingness to apply a similar
practice in the diaspora. For example, one grandmother talked about the use of local
sponge and traditional black soup to bathe babies and the traditional massage of a
new-born:
In our culture, when a baby is born [and] you don’t want offensive odour, black soap must
be used to bathe the baby.… [When] the baby [i.e. her grandchild] was born [abroad], the
nurses used little soap and wrapped the baby.In our culture, you take the baby to the bath-
room and scrub the baby with a local sponge. After scrubbing, you stretch the legs and at
times even mould the head. (68 years, Retired)
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12 D. A. BUSARI AND K. O. ADEBAYO
While the grandmother above insisted that ‘we cannot neglect our tradition because we
are abroad,’ it is apt to point out that she did not use the local sponge and black soap while
abroad. This suggests thatwhile grandmothers knew and valued traditional childcare prac-
tices, they sometimes refrained from applying them in caring for grandchildren based
abroad. Their refrain may be due to personal choice or individual experiences.
Also, contrary to what obtains at home, diaspora grand-mothering is mostly a lonely
and challenging activity. In Nigeria, even in situations where grandmothers are caring for
a newborn, other family members or hired help are at hand to provide additional
support. Diaspora grandmothers on the hand receive little assistance outside of what
couples provide. In some cases, help is lacking because couples are caught up in other
day to day activities.
When children are brought to their grandparents in Nigeria, you are with them and also get
helpers – some people have asmany as twohouses helps. So, you are not alone.…There [in dia-
spora], you don’t have [helpers]; youwill do everything: taking care of the baby, themother, and
maybe preparing food for them, most especially if both of them work. (IDI, 69 years)
The subversive labour regime of the western society has exposed the changes in
modern family structure and encouraged grandmothers to take up the responsibility
of tending to grandchildren when they ought to be receiving care. While we do not
suggest that grand-mothering is new or wholly a consequence of the industrial
complex of globalization, there is no doubt that the cycle of interdependent care
giving across borders under a condition of up rootedness is unique to this era.
Although grandmothers are respected in the family and enjoy much influence over
their children’s homes and general affairs, diaspora grandmothers are more cautious
while abroad. For instance, grandmothers take explicit instructions from the grandchild’s
parents, especially on health matters. When probed to know whether she administers
medicine on her grandchild, a participant replied that:
I don’t use any medicine on them. I only take care of the baby, to bath, to make sure every-
thing is in order. If they need anything to treat the child, the parents will give me money to
buy.… I don’t give them anything on my own. (IDI, 60 years)
This contrast with the influence grandmothers have over their grandchildren in
African societies. The caution participants exercised may be due to the differences in
rules whereby what is considered care giving in Nigeria may be categorized as illegal
or abusive in the diaspora.
Benefits and challenges of diaspora grand-mothering
Diaspora grand-mothering is not all about grandmothers serving grandchildren and
couples in the diaspora. Grandmothers too derive some benefits. The first benefit men-
tioned was that diaspora grand-mothering provides an opportunity to bond with grand-
children. While distance denies grandmothers the joy of helping to raise grandchildren,
short travels for grand-mothering purposes affords them the chance to partake in such
grandparental joy.
Another benefit is that it offers opportunities for tourism. The practice allowed some
grandmothers to explore and observe ‘how things are done there [abroad]’ (IDI 1, 68
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JOURNAL OF FAMILY STUDIES 13
years). Besides, grandmothers that require medical attention were able to receive care in
high-quality health facilities. Hence, giving childcare and receiving medical care is per-
ceived as a better alternative. Indeed, some grandmothers reside abroad for an extended
period in order to receive medical care (IDI, 60 years).
The practice also makes it possible for grandmothers to be a part of their grandchil-
dren’s socialization. Through socialization, one of them came to value the opportunity to
contribute to the spiritual life of her grandchild at the early stage. In her words: ‘You are
able to bring them up in the way of the lord, knowing that you are sowing seeds in their
life at that early stage’ (IDI 1, 68 years).
Material gain is one of the fundamental benefits of diaspora grand-mothering. For the
assistance offered, grandmothers get material gifts which sometimes percolate to persons
who also helped them keep their own homes running in their absence: ‘as much as they
[diaspora couples] can, they appreciate, they even send gifts through me to people
especially to those who are of help when I am not around’ (IDI 5, 60 years). This state-
ment reveals the contexts of social exchange in diaspora grand-mothering arrangement.
In addition, being abroad provides opportunity to ‘forget about stress at home’ (IDI 5, 60
years). On a psychological plane, the process provides grandmothers with the opportu-
nity to provide assistance when needed the most. A participant noted that:
The benefit is the joy attached to it. You are happy, and they also are happy.… That joy
comes to the heart of the grandmother that she can perform her social responsibility.
(IDI 3, 69 years)
Despite the benefits, these grandmothers experience some challenges as the process
has emotional and social implications. Some of the participants have more than one
child with other grandchildren and not all of them reside abroad. So, while providing
grand-mothering assistance abroad, their responsibility or commitment in other places
is affected. Conflict in diaspora households is another challenge wherein grandmothers
become parties to conflicts between couples. While they are expected to be impartial, a
grandmother might struggle with the responsibility of a conflict manager because her
objectivity in such matters could easily be misinterpreted. The case of one of our partici-
pants, a 73 years old grandmother suffices to capture this challenge. While visiting her
son and his wife in the US, she was caught up in a spousal conflict over having a pet.
Her son loved dogs but his wife did not. According to this participant,
a pet dog in the house was common for her son as they had such pets since his child-
hood. The effort of this grandmother to encourage the wife to tolerate the pet was mis-
construed as being biased in the son’s favour.
The transnational exportation of grandmother services disrupts other interactions that
grandmothers have always been a part of. Some grandmothers have to suspend church
networks and personal responsibilities to religious organizations on account of being
away. Those in regular employment at home also temporarily lost interactions with
co-workers. Most of the women complained that their church commitments and respon-
sibilities suffered while they were away to care for their grandchildren. Nevertheless, tele-
phone and social media applications remained useful in helping them stay connected and
maintain significant ties while away.
Other challenges include not having familiar local food to consume, incompatible
weather conditions, loneliness, too much work, and lack of freedom to do what they
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14 D. A. BUSARI AND K. O. ADEBAYO
have interest in such as attending church whenever they liked. In dealing with loneliness,
some grandmothers engaged in local tourism through neighbourhood walks and visits to
public recreational spots. The use of automated equipment such as washing machine for
carrying out routine tasks like laundry helped to reduce the stress of childcare.
Discussion
Our case study showed that Nigerian grandmothers valued their involvement in diaspora
grand-mothering. The visit of grandmothers as caregivers to the diaspora often coincided
with the arrival of a newborn. Care giving journeys were undertaken to help new mother
rest and recover. This observation is similar to the pattern reported among Chinese
grandmothers who felt that the postpartum period is a period of recovery from heat
(Lie, 2010). We also found that previously documented factors motivating diaspora
grand-mothering among other nationalities were similar to those motivating Nigerian
grandmothers, especially cultural norms and work circumstances of diaspora couples
(Da, 2003; Lee & Bauer, 2013; Singh, 2014). Also, like Aubel (2005, 2006) and other scho-
lars have shown, women’s roles transcend beyond giving care to their children and
grandchildren. The participation of Nigerian grandmothers in diaspora childcare helps
diaspora couples to navigate the demanding neoliberal labour regime. Many scholars
have argued that the demands of modern work life in the globalized world impacts on
the capacity of young mothers to provide childcare, thus necessitating the practice of
grand-mothering in the diaspora (Cost et al., 2017; Kerig, 2019; Ma, 2018; Vermulst
et al., 2017).
Nevertheless, Nigerian grandmothers valued their role as it allowed them to be close to
their grandchildren despite the distance. While abroad, however, diaspora grandmothers
multitask, from doing chores to helping mothers carry out every day work around and
outside the house. They also perform the role of informal counsellors to new mothers.
These tasks go beyond the childcare role that grandmothers are expected to play.
Their involvement in all these activities underlines why grandmothers remain critical
in many African cultures (Michel et al., 2019).
More than this, we should reiterate the place of empathy in the motivations for trans-
national grand-mothering. As the most mentioned among our participants, empathy is
rarely amplified as a distinct motivation in diaspora grandparenting. By not paying atten-
tion to this, there is a tendency to deny the agency of grandmothers to sometimes choose
to be part of transnational childcare activities based on their evaluation of the situation.
The issue of agency becomes more important when we consider how grandmothers
decide whether or not to travel abroad for childcare. As our findings reveal, even
though all the grandmothers were happy to support diaspora couples, they expressed a
rare agency that is absent in other studies. For instance, contrary to Lie (2010) who
found that Chinese grandparents in Canada felt powerless and obligated, Nigerian grand-
mothers were free to either accept an invitation or refuse it. With their elaborate discus-
sion on ‘availability’, Nigerian grandmothers anchored their participation on reasons that
were indicative of personal will. This claim holds even though patriarchal power and
other circumstances of ‘availability’ play mediatory roles.
The literature on grandparenting, especially the transnational kind, has mostly been
silent on the place of grandfathers. When they mention them, the contention is often
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JOURNAL OF FAMILY STUDIES 15
about how scholars have focused too much on grandmothers and neglected grandfathers
who are also increasingly providing care to grandchildren under certain conditions
(Mann, 2007). These concerns are genuine. However, we observed that grandfathers
occupy a more crucial position in the calculations of diaspora grandmothers. The signifi-
cance of grandfathers is not just in terms of their place in approving care giving journeys
but also in the ways diaspora grand-mothering practice affects them. Grandmothers put
grandfathers into consideration, precisely because transnational care giving can pose a
threat to grandparental marital relations.
Finally, our case study confirmed the assumption of symbolic interactionist role
theory; most prominently in respect of how role expectations often appear fixed but
are made flexible by role behaviours. Grandmothers, as social agents, often reinterpret
their roles even when they simultaneously value those roles as responsibility. Ironically,
we observed a deliberate effort on the part of grandmothers to fit in and fulfil multiple
gender roles by the way they negotiated with grandfathers in the course of their diasporic
childcare engagement.
Conclusion
This study explored the phenomenon of diaspora grand-mothering among selected
grandmothers in Ibadan metropolis, Nigeria. We explored factors shaping grand-
mothers’ involvement in diaspora care giving and what they perceived as benefits and
challenges. Factors like empathy, a feeling of a sense of duty, and cultural norms were
essential motivations for grandmothers. The study identified different regimens of child-
care in Nigeria and abroad, but most of our participants preferred the regimen in Nigeria.
Although many of them felt that they have a responsibility in caring for their grandchil-
dren, they were not victims of culture given their agentic capacity. Grandparental nego-
tiation was essential as grandfathers partook in the decision of whether or not
grandmothers go abroad to give care. Despite the social and emotional challenges of
the practice, diaspora care giving had the benefit of helping grandmothers to bridge
the distance between them and their grandchildren, improving bonding and providing
opportunities for medical tourism.
This study adds value to diaspora and grandparenting literature as it unveils a
crucial practice in African diaspora experience. Future studies will benefit from
collecting data from more grandmothers who participate in transnational childcare.
Importantly, studies that take account of, and compare the opinions of different
categories of participants, especially diaspora couples and grandfathers, can generate
a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of diaspora grand-mothering.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial,
or not-for-profit sectors.
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16 D. A. BUSARI AND K. O. ADEBAYO
Notes on contributors
Dauda Aderemi Busari, Department of Sociology, Faculty of The Social Sciences, University of
Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Kudus Oluwatoyin Adebayo Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan and African Centre
for Migration & Society, University of The Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
ORCID
Dauda Aderemi Busari http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8821-0739
Kudus Oluwatoyin Adebayo http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3746-4963
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