Who cares for the carers? Negotiating transnational social protection among older Ukrainian care workers in Italy

Izzo, Maria (2026) Who cares for the carers? Negotiating transnational social protection among older Ukrainian care workers in Italy. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis examines older Ukrainian migrants employed as eldercare workers in Italy, situating their lives at the intersection of migration, ageing, and transnational social protection. Extending foundational literature on gender, migration, and care work through an ageing–migration lens, it shows how care work functions simultaneously as livelihood, quick-fix welfare, and a source of long-term vulnerability when intersecting with the ageing process.

Based on multilingual qualitative interviews and participant observation in Naples and Milan—the thesis engages with the complexities of conducting research in politically sensitive contexts, particularly following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. It reflects on the role of translanguaging and reflexivity in co-producing knowledge across linguistic and cultural boundaries.

First, transnational social protection shows intrastate variations, influenced by local welfare institutions, labour market dynamics, and urban spatial arrangements. Second, access to resources is filtered through subjective cultural and moral understandings of ageing, responsibility, and an historically constructed sense of protracted instability. Third, relational support networks—comprising NGOs, churches, employers, and kin—serve as vital but precarious infrastructures that migrants rely on to access protection.

Ageing in migration is revealed as a deeply relational process, where agency is unevenly distributed and shaped by intersecting structural constraints. Collecting the voices of both practitioners and migrant care workers, this thesis calls not only for a reimagining of social protection beyond national borders, but also for a rethinking of the care work profession itself—toward a more sustainable, equitable model that addresses the needs of ageing migrant workers.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Supported by funding from a CoSS Scholarship 2022/23.
• Keywords: Ageing, migration, care work, transnational social protection, Italy, Ukraine.
• Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General); H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare; J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Social & Environmental Sustainability
• Funder's Name: CoSS Scholarship 2022/23
• Supervisor's Name: Hunter, Dr. Alistair and Bernard, Dr. Sara
• Date of Award: 2026
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2026-85975
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 28 May 2026 15:20
• Last Modified: 28 May 2026 15:24
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.85975
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/85975