A study has identified communication gaps and physical distance between workers engaged in labor mobility and their spouses or partners as significant factors contributing to marital breakdowns. This research sheds light on the social consequences of the Pacific labor mobility scheme for Fijians and workers from three other Pacific Island nations. Participants in the study remarked on how the labor mobility scheme affects their marital relationships.
According to the report, older children and teenagers often assume caregiving responsibilities when marital relationships deteriorate. When a female partner’s relationship ends after her male partner has worked abroad, there tends to be a lack of ongoing support from the paternal extended family, leading children to take care of younger siblings or other family members in order to assist single mothers who work long hours to provide for the family.
The study points out that for women left to care for children on their own, maternal families frequently serve as essential support systems. Some participants have moved closer to their maternal families to ease caregiving responsibilities.
Infidelity was also noted as a reason for marital breakdowns. One Fijian worker’s husband recounted discovering his wife’s infidelity during a video call, which led to a complex emotional situation. Though he expressed his willingness to raise the child resulting from this infidelity, he emphasized the impact such a situation could have on their existing children.
The research indicates that marital breakdowns can create complicated caregiving dynamics, disputes over care, and complex arrangements regarding remittances, further widening the gap in financial support for families. Relationship issues often significantly influence children’s experiences with the labor mobility scheme, affecting their economic stability and care arrangements.
The findings also reveal delays in communication regarding court rulings and gaps in coordination between police and immigration authorities in cases involving family law disputes. This situation results in ineffective oversight by policing, judicial, and immigration systems, which fail to ensure that participants in labor mobility programs meet their obligations toward their children.