The Morality of Care: Female Family Caregivers’ Motivations for Providing Care to Older Migrants

Finding suitable long-term care arrangements for older migrants in Europe, including Norway, has been a major concern for healthcare policymakers in the last decade. However, many older people with migrant backgrounds, and to a certain extent their descendants, often prefer that care arrangements are managed within the family. Although caring for family members may be personally satisfying, it can also be a source of distress. This study explores the motivations of care among female family caregivers of older Pakistani migrants within the Norwegian Ahmadiyya community. Our data are derived from a qualitative study including individual and group interviews with 19 female family caregivers. The study participants were aged 25-62 and resided in Norway. The interviews were conducted in Urdu and English and later transcribed verbatim in English. Our findings resulted in four main themes regarding motivations for caregiving: (1) "Who else, if not the family?": care perceived as a family obligation; (2) The divine duty of caregiving; (3) Women are better at caregiving; and (4) "What will people say?": fear of judgments. The intersection of culture, religion, gender, and migration shaped caregiving as a moral practice, and those providing care were considered individuals with high moral identity. The moral identity assigned to the role of family caregivers appears to exacerbate rather than alleviate the care burden on women of migrant origin. Understanding the motivations for caregiving can shed light on ways in which better support can be provided to ethnic minority families with aging members.