Title:
|
Thriving or surviving : the social capital of new migrant women
with limited English in London
|
Britain has a super-diverse population, characterised by multiple dimensions of
socio-cultural and immigration-related diversity. There has been increasing
recognition that gender is a key variable in the migration experience. Studies
examining the needs of new migrant women have identified lack of English,
difficulty understanding British systems and lack of adequate childcare as
barriers to accessing services. Both local and transnational networks may be
important sources of support but whether they are available and how they are
used to mobilize social capital remains unclear. This thesis aims to further an
understanding of new migrant women's social networks in mobilising social
capital.
Qualitative in-depth interviews were carried out with 23 new migrant mothers in
socio-economically deprived zones of an inner-London area. All participants
spoke limited English at the time of interview. Elements of grounded theory
influenced the data collection and analysis. A novel approach of post-interview
follow-up was used which enabled a period of extended contact with
participants. This provided additional data on encounters with services that
indicated how and why local social networks, rather than transnational
networks, impacted most on opportunities to mobilise social capital.
A model of Goal Directed Activity is proposed from this analysis, highlighting the
time and effort women invested in addressing the needs of their families, across
private and public spaces. A typology of networks is developed, which is used
to explore the differing characteristics of participants' networks. The analysis
demonstrates that local networks with others who also had low resources
provided support to get by. A strong tie, however, to someone with better
resources was necessary to mobilise sufficient social capital to get ahead. An
understanding of new migrant women's everyday experiences and social
networks may help policy makers when looking to improve the interface with
service providers.
|