National Center of Competence in Research – The Migration-Mobility Nexus
Tania Zittoun
“New Migration” and New Forms of Integration: Families in Geographical Itinerancy
The demands of the job market increasingly bring professionals, their partners and their children to engage in trajectories of repeated international mobility. In Switzerland, whose policies encourage “highly skilled migration”, the number of mobile families is likely to grow in the next few years. Who are these families, and how do they live on the move? How do they experience their temporary stay in Switzerland? And what are the implications of hosting these mobile families for Switzerland?
A better inclusion of highly qualified accompanying partners, both men and women, in the Swiss labor market would be in the interest of these families and of Switzerland.
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Local initiatives can foster encounters between mobile and sedentary residents, and thus social inclusion.
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A majority of mobile children attend public school, creating new demands on teachers and the educational system, which are not always acknowledged.
