Project Report BHRM703.1 – Dissertation
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13214540/1 Student Name ALMEIDA VIEIRA, Thaiz
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2011/2
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Dissertation (MA HRM)
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Thaiz Almeida Vieira 13214540
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Project Report BHRM703.1 – Dissertation
DISSERTATION
Expatriates’ Family’s Adjustment: Exploring
family’s influences in expatriates’ premature return.
A conceptual dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the
requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts in Human Resource Management
Thaiz Almeida Vieira 13214540
January 25, 2012.
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Project Report BHRM703.1 – Dissertation
Table of Contents
1.0 ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................1
2.0 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................2
3.0 LITERATURE REVIEW .........................................................................................................3
3.1 HUMAN RESOURCES SCOPE..................................................................................................9
3.2 LITERATURE ISSUES ............................................................................................................11
4.0 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................13
4.1 DESCRIPTION OF METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................13
4.2 JUSTIFICATION OF METHOD EMPLOYED.............................................................................14
4.3 THE INTERVIEW OUTLINE...................................................................................................15
4.4 SELECTION OF RESPONDENTS.............................................................................................16
4.5 ANALYSIS OF DATA.............................................................................................................18
5.0 FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................19
5.1 THE EXPATRIATE SELECTION PROCESS ..............................................................................20
5.2 THE EXPATRIATE’S FAMILY PREPARATION ........................................................................23
5.3 THE EXPATRIATE’S FAMILY IN THE HOST COUNTRY ..........................................................26
6.0 DISCUSSION........................................................................................................................31
6.1 THE EXPATRIATE SELECTION PROCESS ..............................................................................31
6.2 THE EXPATRIATE’S FAMILY PREPARATION ........................................................................32
6.3 THE EXPATRIATE’S FAMILY IN THE HOST COUNTRY ..........................................................33
7.0 CONCLUSION .....................................................................................................................34
8.0 REFERENCES......................................................................................................................36
9.0 APPENDICES .......................................................................................................................42
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Project Report BHRM703.1 – Dissertation
9.1 APPENDIX A........................................................................................................................42
9.2 APPENDIX B ........................................................................................................................43
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1.0 Abstract
For organisations, one of the most expensive elements of sending expatriates to a host country
involves the cost of their premature return. The reason for this early return is often pointed to
poor adjustment of spouses and child. To minimise this risk of premature return, organisations
offer support practices to expatriates’ families.
This dissertation looks at the personal views of expatriates’ spouses regarding issues they face
when relocating and in the host country, considering the adjustment support offered by the
Human Resource departments outlined in the literature.
It has been pointed out factors determining expatriates’ spouses’ views using semi-structured
and unstructured interviews. They could express their personal concerns and expectations
starting from the early stage of the expatriate selection process, passing through the predeparture preparation and encompassing their experiences in the host country.
In light of the findings, it concludes that expatriates’ spouses’ personal challenges are
unforeseen, i.e. it cannot be predicted in the organisations’ practices and can arise with time.
Also, the support offered was mainly practical and applicable in the host country, leaving out
psychological support practices before their departure. As for recommendations, I suggest that
future studies examine how organisations can offer better mentoring systems as well as
psychological and practical training in the host country vis-à-vis these unpredictable issues.
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2.0 Introduction
Organisations attempt to provide assistance to expatriates’ spouses / partners and children
starting from the expatriates’ selection process to relocate, assessing pre-departure preparation
and their stay in the new country (Thomas and Lazarova, 2006). This assistance aims to
minimise relocation issues and to avoid their early return. Nevertheless, organisations still
experience expatriates’ early return and studies reveal that reasons lie in poor family
adjustment (Haslberger, 2008; Konopaske et al., 2005; Bauer and Taylor, 2001).
In this research paper, I set out to explore the challenges faced by expatriates’ spouses /
partners that may contribute to their premature return. I chose to focus on the expatriates’
wives’ views in order to gather practical information about their expectations, experiences and
challenges during the whole process of relocation.
In previous studies (GMAC, 2006; Brookfield, 2010; Collings et al., 2011), the view of these
challenges stresses the organisations’ concerns and their surveys. From this point, it was
possible to build their support practices and guidelines. These studies provide main points of
family concerns covered in surveys, general practical issues but at the human level,
interpretive elements about these concerns were not fully explored. I, in contrast, explore the
concerns from the perceptions of the expatriates’ wives. In the literature available
(Haslberger, 2008; Brookfield, 2010; Kronopaske et al., 2005; Bauer and Taylor, 2001;
McKenna, 2010), it is stated that expatriates’ wives have the strongest negative influence in
expatriates’ premature return. Because of this I have chosen to focus on the personal
experiences and views of the expatriates’ spouses, and to connect this with the conclusions of
known literature.
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3.0 Literature Review
The term expatriation refers to the international transfer of managers or any employee to a
country in which they are non-citizens. These managers or employees are called expatriates.
They are normally assigned to stay in the new country for a pre-determined period of time –
traditionally 2 to 5 years – and are subject of fast paced processes of adjustment in the new
environment (Harzing and Pinnington, 2011). Peiperl and Jonsen (2007) predict that the
number of people living as expatriates is progressively growing and will continue to develop
because organisations usually tend to expand their businesses to other countries and increase
networks through work relationships.
In order to enable successful relocation, the expatriate and his / her family’s adjustment is
deemed crucial (Avril, 2007). Gerrig and Zimbardo (2002) define expatriate adjustment as the
result of a learning process that fundamentally gives individuals the ability to be more
effective and content in the new environment. Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al. (2005) claim that
adjustment also involves a series of macro and micro elements in order to present the
effectiveness mentioned above. Although effectiveness in the new environment is not clearly
defined, the macro environment mainly includes culture, business practices, openness to /
view of foreigners, religious / political systems, level of socio-economic development (e.g.
housing standards and utilities). In the micro environment, expatriates’ adjustment depends on
work and private life levels. Work level entails degree of difficulty to accomplish tasks,
support by co-workers, mentor’s availability, logistical support and clarity of job purposes. At
the private level, expatriates’ family, i.e. partners and children, is the focus of concern, where
factors such as their level of adjustment, motivation to stay, resilience and life style play an
important role in regards to the expatriate’s willingness to stay in the new country. The
effectiveness implies these two environments combined and harmonised.
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Furthermore, Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al. (2005) outline other factors presenting great impact on
partners and children are schooling, socio-economic situation, networks, and friends,
availability of familiar food and job as well as shopping facilities. In addition, Haslberger
(2008) defines adjustment as a process of dealing with new environmental and psychological
conditions, which are expected to be temporary.
The expatriate’s and his / her family’s relocation adjustment depends on different domains of
behaviour, which may be integrated allowing consistent balance of adjustment. Haslberger
and Brewster (2008) suggest six domains in which the expatriate and his / her family present
different roles: politics and government, work, economic and consumption, family relations,
social relations, ideology (such as ways of thinking, values and religious beliefs). Although
not all of these domains have been considered important in terms of adjustment, behavioural
studies have shown that individuals, who have adjusted to each of these domains separately,
integrated them later and demonstrated consistent adjustment.
Although expatriates’ individual adjustment is seen as crucial for their work progress to
succeed, in his most recent research, Haslberger (2008) identifies the critical influence
partners and children have on the expatriates’ ability to stay in the new country and complete
their work in the total pre-determined period of time. He emphasises the importance of
partners’ and children’s adjustment and consideration in order to avoid failure of premature
return to their original country. Bonache and Brewster (2001) also argue that the negative
adjustment of the family can influence the expatriate’s poor performance, which as
consequence can result in their early return.
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In a study of expatriates’ family relocation and influence on their decisions, findings
recognise that 79% of expatriates had spouses or partners with them in the new country and
47% had their children (Brookfield, 2010). This can represent a great portion of concern due
to the importance given to family relocation by the expatriate, which can also explain the high
degree of influence on the expatriate’s decision to return, as affirmed in an earlier study by
Konopaske et al. (2005). They observe that when the expatriate is relocated to a foreign
country, the whole family tends to be relocated with him / her, which suggests distinct and
significant pressure on the expatriate coming from the family members.
Most studies on family adjustment refer to family as a collection of related individuals rather
than an entity or a system with different individuals who function interdependently, i.e. one’s
adjustment to the new environment depends on the adjustment of another family member
(Leskowich, 2009). This interdependent adjustment considers partner and child’s potential to
develop positive perceptions of the new environment. For instance, if the child has friends and
is happy at school, it is likely that the partner and the expatriate employee will feel happy with
the child’s adjustment and consequently will feel happy to be in the new environment. Similar
conditions apply to the partner’s ability to find work and meet new friends – the expatriate
employee is likely to feel at ease at work and perform better, knowing that his / her partner is
adjusting to the new environment (Harris, 2006).
According to Takeuchi et al. (2002), this interdependent adjustment can be also called the
crossover effect. The characteristic of this effect is reflected on the result of one’s reaction or
behaviour acting upon another individual either positively or negatively. The crossover effect
may also start as one’s positive response to an event and may result on someone’s negative
response. For instance, a positive event at work, such as promotion can bring a negative
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response from the expatriate’s partner / spouse due to assumed increase of working hours, i.e.
the expatriate would spend less time with the family. They explain in their research that the
partner’s adjustment can have a positive or negative effect on the expatriate’s satisfaction at
work or in the new environment, hence his / her potential motivation to stay in the new
country.
Another significant aspect of the expatriate’s and his / her family’s adjustment refers to their
sense of connection with each other at home (Fry, 2003). Fry claims that the presence of a
supportive and understanding atmosphere at home is necessary to enable harmonious
adjustment in the new country. The expatriate and his / her family can present adjustment
difficulties during their stay in the foreign country and family presents a major and often
negative influence on the expatriate’s premature return (Bauer and Taylor, 2001). Therefore,
this supportive and understanding atmosphere should be nurtured at home as well as at work.
Harris (2006) points out specific attributes for an expatriate’s family to function
appropriately. Such attributes involve primarily family support (which is perceived as
emotional support and can be seen as negative if provided too little or too much of it),
adaptability (the family should be able to understand and adjust to changes) and lastly
communication ability (they should be able to exchange opinions and conflicts should be
solved using friendly approaches).
Although the expatriate’s and his / her family’s adjustment seems to be fundamental for the
expatriate’s decision to remain in the foreign country and researchers have stressed their
adjustment as crucial, organisations show inclination for disregarding family in the
expatriate’s process of relocation (Anderson, 2005). Family is not usually involved since the
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selection process, however, when they are in the foreign country, organisations assume a
supportive role to help spouse and children adjust. Instead, organisations should not put this
responsibility on hold and involvement of the family should be seen as core motivator for the
expatriate to relocate and remain in the new country.
Moreover, Takeuchi et al. (2002) suggest that organisations should offer participation in preselection interviews to the expatriate’s family in order to examine potential issues and address
their concerns. In their research, emotional instability in a new environment is pointed out as
well as a feeling of alienation that can arise if the family is not part of the expatriate’s
evaluation and decision to move to another country. The expatriate’s partner, as mentioned
before, can present difficulties with fitting in the new surroundings and the child may
experience behavioural problems at school or he / she may have learning disabilities that
should be taken into consideration.
Leskowich (2009) indicates that organisations should present ongoing training and effective
practices towards expatriates’ families in order to avoid negative effect on expatriates’
willingness to stay in the new environment. This training should be implemented before the
expatriate’s departure and should include his / her family. Tye and Chen (2005) claim that
most organisations lack appropriate practices related to supporting the expatriate’s family
adjustment in terms of pre-departure training.
According to the survey published by Brookfield (2010), four-fifths of companies offer predeparture training for only some of the assignments developed for expatriates; 55% of this
result are related to organisations providing pre-departure training for the whole family, while
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38% of organisations in the research consider including only the spouse or partner into their
support preparation practices.
While the expatriate’s partner / spouse experiences unstructured and limitedly supported
circumstances in the new location, the expatriate goes through often organised job routines
and working socialisation (Haslberger and Brewster, 2008). In addition, their school-age
children may face nearly as structured routines as the expatriate parent due to the time they
spend at school (usually all day), which may contribute to their smooth and efficient
adjustment. Children might encounter difficulties regarding the new language, new friends as
well as the new school itself (Kanno, 2000). However, children are considered more open to
new information and they seem to learn faster from the new environment than their parents.
This potential to learn and adjust may influence the parents’ adjustment and their willingness
to stay in the foreign country. It is assumed that if structured routines are not provided in the
new country, it is likely that the spouse / partner will face difficulties to adjust (McKenna,
2010).
In regards to the quality and content of pre-departure training provided, Mendenhall and Stahl
(2000) perceive potential failure in accounting and solving problems that may arise while the
expatriate and his / her family are in the foreign country. Organisations can foresee limitations
and issues when the expatriate relocate, however, each individual can present different degree
of reactions to similar situations in the new climate.
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3.1 Human Resources Scope
Human Resources concerns with the future of the expatriates in a foreign country should arise
when the selection process starts (Anderson, 2005). Organisations have primarily taken into
consideration the expatriates’ technical competence (Adler, 1981) when assessing potential
candidates (Harvey and Novicevic, 2001), ignoring essential interpersonal traits of
expatriates, which are critical to support regarding their family adjustment. Such interpersonal
skills involve cultural empathy, adaptability, diplomacy, positive attitude, emotional stability
and maturity.
In Collings et al. (2011), a recent study introduced a series of Human Resource practices
related to supporting expatriates. They have examined the UK Royal Mail Consulting
guidelines on supporting practices for expatriates. These guidelines present a time frame and a
step-by-step approach in order to provide appropriate assistance to both the expatriate and his
/ her family. Time frames start from ‘decision to go’, ‘six months before assignment’, ‘one
week before leaving’, to ‘monthly while away’. The practices vary from potential impact on
life and family (in the expatriate’s decision to go), inter-cultural training and spouse/family
programs as well as setting up a mentor for them (under six months before assignment),
emotional impacts (under one week before leaving) to career opportunities (Collins, 1996;
Sievers, 1998) and mentoring (under monthly while away). In appendix A, these time frames
are described along with perceived appropriate assistance. However, it is observed that family
is not addressed as core influential for the expatriate adjustment due to the absence of specific
practices related to their support.
Furthermore, in order to minimise the risk of a premature return and prepare the expatriate
and his / her family for the foreign country, Thomas and Lazarova (2006) mention the training
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combined with briefings and visits to the host location. Visits to the host location can provide
an idea or anticipate perception of general adjustment. This means that the expatriate and his /
her family are exposed to a first glance about the new environment, which can raise positive
(or negative) response and influence on the expatriate’s decision to relocate (Haslberger,
2005). If this positive response from the family stays, it is likely that the expatriate will not
return to the original country prematurely.
Other authors suggest that organisations’ support practices should consider approaches that
enable address different areas of adjustment in the new country so to avoid premature return.
Ehnert and Brewster (2008) argue that pre-departure training should include factors for
development, such as: tolerance for stress, emotional maturity, relational skills,
communication skills and language. These factors can be developed with the help of the
Human Resource team, mentors and appropriate co-workers, which are aligned with the
expatriate’s process of relocation.
Nevertheless, there are organisations that plan ahead negative reactions from expatriates and
their families and are experienced regarding sending expatriates to other countries. These
organisations can go past traditional pre-departure training and offer tools for the expatriate
and his / her family while in the new country (Collings et al., 2011). Tools such as:
mentoring, buddy systems on location or at home base (buddy systems are a tool of arranging
people in pairs and encouraging them to gain mutual assistance) and job placement assistance
for spouses or partners are practices used in these organisations, however, not much evidence
of successful outcomes has been reported. In a quantitative study developed by GMAC
(2006), 60 percent of expatriates’ partners / spouses were employed before they were
relocated to another country and only 21 percent had the chance to find a placement abroad.
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A perspective given by some organisations regarding support and coaching goes beyond
psychological and subjective assistance. When the expatriate and his / her family are already
in the foreign country, practical support reveals more appropriate. This involves housing,
schooling, childcare and professional integration issues of the spouse / partner and social
integration support (Collings et al. 2011). Specific examples of this practical support vary
from intercultural courses, events, networking events –, which integrate the expatriate and his
/ her family into the new culture and country and encourage them to find new friends.
Haslberger and Brewster (2008) consider important the supportive approach coming from
organisations but they discuss at what extent organisations should support expatriates and
their families. They refer to psychological and practical support practices but question if they
are appropriate enough in terms of relevance. Organisations might give too much irrelevant
support, which can aggravate rather than extenuate problems faced by expatriates and their
family while abroad. For instance, some partners might find the practice of networking events
a shallow way into building new network, which might be forcing their interaction with
others. They might prefer meeting others by chance and getting to know them gradually.
3.2 Literature issues
The literature has explored some of the reasons related to partner’s and child’s adjustment in
regards to expatriates premature return. The concern which is not listed and that it can be of
great value is the degree of importance of each of these reasons and how the family copes
with them individually. In the literature, different tools of prevention (i.e. pre-departure
training) and assistance (i.e. mentoring) are addressed by organisations in order to ensure that
the expatriate and his/her family will adjust in the new country until the assignment
completion. Also, there is no indication of how these tools can support the expatriate and
his/her family, that is, family members’ concerns are not specifically addressed to each of
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these support tools, which can cause difficulties in accessing the tools and consequently
increasing the issues. These reasons and aspects were built based on previous extended
research on expatriates’ failure to complete their assignments.
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4.0 Methodology
The methodology approach displayed in this session is not equivalent to the methodology
presented in the three previous studies on expatriates’ premature return. The Global
Relocation Survey developed at GMAC (2006), the Brookfield Survey (2010) and the
research in Collings et al. (2011) introduced quantitative research in the form of a survey
methodology in order to relate main expatriate’s family concerns to organisations’ practices.
However, they do not provide in-depth information regarding the family’s adjustment process
from the family’s perspective. In addition, they focus on preventive psychological and
practical support practices rather than the actual fortunate or unfortunate events experienced
by the expatriate’s family and what type of support practices can prevent or minimise them.
For instance, mentoring support is displayed (Appendix A) in a context of monthly while
away but it is not clear in which circumstances family members can seek this support, what
types of issues family members should raise and to whom – this uncertainty could cause
embarrassment to them and consequently potentiate the issues in the long run. The research
and guidelines developed in Collings et al. (2011) will serve as a direction for this research in
terms of preventive practical approaches adopted by organisations in general. Based on how
the family experiences these issues from their perspectives, a specific and more suitable
methodology was applied and described below.
4.1 Description of methodology
For the scope and explorative nature of this report, the use of qualitative research has been
adopted. The reason lies in the character of the situation to be investigated, which involves
people as a family entity, where the crossover effect may be presented affecting the family’s
behaviour and causing reactions towards a new environment. It is acknowledged that
qualitative methods are appropriate for social studies and give the researcher the opportunity
and ability to engage in complex findings, which involve reflection, thoughts and
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understanding of the subject (Jensen, 2002). Therefore, this dissertation focuses on in-depth
exploration of family concerns before and while they live temporarily in a foreign country
with attention to the expatriate’s spouse / partner and children. This paper links these
concerns with the influence they have in the expatriate’s family, resulting in his/her premature
return.
4.2 Justification of Method Employed
The expatriate’s spouse / partner participated in a combination of unstructured and semistructured interviews in order to enable explorative perspectives about challenges faced by
them and during the period they have accompanied the expatriate. Interviews are considered
appropriate in social research due to the range of points of view, perspectives, reflections and
the use of aide-mémoire provided by the interviewees. Berger (2000) explains that no other
method allows the researcher to gather a variety of primary data on thoughts, opinions,
attitudes and motivations. According to Bryman (2001), unstructured interviews can take the
shape of a conversation between individuals and tend to be broad and sometimes lose the
focus of research. For this reason, semi-structured interviews were combined with
unstructured interviews so to organise the topics maintaining flexibility but keeping the
interview focused on the predetermined topic.
Berger (2000) also points out some of the limitations of using interviews as a data source: the
respondent has the power to choose the information the interviewer wants to hear, can lack
accurate information, can avoid telling the truth or cannot remember the facts, only relying on
memory.
Some of the challenges of being in a foreign country may be forgotten (if the interviewee only
relies on memory during the interview) due to new overpowering challenges or simply
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because these challenges have been overcome. If challenges have been overcome, respondents
might treat them as unimportant or irrelevant for the interview. Details about these challenges
are expected in the interviews, such as description of how the respondent coped with them
and how he/she got support from others (family members and/or the organisation). The
challenges or issues identified by the family members can have an impact on the premature
return of the expatriate (even if it was only a suggestion to return) and can demonstrate levels
of frustration if not dealt with and overcome. It is deemed important to consider that each
respondent will have their own view of how these issues are likely to bring frustration to their
daily routines and because the respondents may present different backgrounds, they can
classify the seriousness of these issues based on their own life experience (or they can
compare their lives to others’), values and notion of quality of life.
4.3 The Interview Outline
Due to interviewees’ locations being in different parts of the globe, the unstructured / semistructured interviews were conducted via telephone and each of them lasted one and a half
hour in average. This time was considered necessary in order to build trust with the
respondent so she could feel comfortable with developing their responses in detail. The
duration of the interview was communicated in advance as well as the confidentiality of the
respondents’ identities, which they agreed with.
It is argued that telephone interviews can suit research in cases when face-to-face interviews
are too costly, but the negatives can include the inability to observe the interviewees’ body
language. Body language can translate interviewees’ feeling of discomfort or confusion,
which could contribute to the amount of limited or irrelevant answers and provide inefficient
data analysis (Bryman and Bell, 2011).
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The interview questions followed a pattern of sequence and thought (linking to previous
theoretical and research contexts), including:
1 – The Expatriate selection process – considering family participation or not, how the
selection process was carried out;
2 – The Expatriate’s family preparation – pre-departure training and other concerns (either of
organisational or family level) the family might have brought into the subject;
3 – The Expatriate’s family in the host country – this is related to the actual issues
experienced in the new environment and the availability of mentoring support.
In the available literature presented, some of the challenges are outlined in a comprehensive
contextual approach, however, it fails to assess concerns from the family’s point of view,
giving more importance to organisations’ notion of what is fundamental to the expatriate’s
family foreseen adjustment.
4.4 Selection of Respondents
Due to time constraints, a small sample of three expatriates’ families was collected. By
expatriate’s family, it is denoted a male expatriate and his spouse / partner (female), with or
without their child. This dissertation is assumed to deliver some validity because the three
respondents present different backgrounds and at the human level, their adjustment is
necessary so the expatriates will not return home early, which allows reflexivity, i.e. it allows
self-awareness in terms of negative effects the research can suffer due to my own potential
biases.
On the other hand, a greater number of respondents in extended fieldwork could deliver
higher validity because of their own considerations of how issues can affect them and the
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presumed lack of remembrance of facts in details; i.e. each respondent can compose a series
of different events, which other respondents might have forgotten or considered unimportant.
The families were selected through a range of criteria at first and narrowed down to five
relevant characteristics later, as follows:
1- Each family is composed of one expatriate (male) and a spouse / partner (female),
with or without a child accompanying them;
2- One member of the family is a traditional expatriate who has been accompanied by his
family to a foreign country;
3- The family is of Brazilian background (this criterion allows better analysis of a
homogeneous group);
4- The expatriate was sent to a foreign country for a minimum period of six months to a
maximum period of five years;
5- The family members have suggested an early return. This does not mean that they
have returned but that there were occasions they suggested returning to their home
country for any reason.
In order to meet the above criteria, a pre semi-structured interview was executed to enable
categorising potential participants. Eight potential participants were interviewed via
telephone, being all from Brazil, accompanying their husbands or partners who are employed
by a multinational corporation. The exact five relevant characteristics were mentioned to the
eight expatriates as well as the total confidentiality about their identities or their
organisations’ identities. After a period of about one week, the response from the families
about their availability to be interviewed was delivered.
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The selection discarded participants for different reasons:
1- Two participants were in the foreign country for more than five years;
2- One participant and his family had lived in the foreign country previously for two
years;
3- One participant did not relocate with his family but alone;
4- One participant did not want to expose his family to interviews.
4.5 Analysis of data
The data collected through telephone interviews were recorded with the authorisation of the
interviewees and transcribed in order to enable full access to the information whenever
necessary. Interview transcripts were analysed using narrative approach (Ezzy, 2002) in order
to explore as much detailed information as possible about the spouses / partners concerns
based on the existing theory. Due to this life changing event, i.e. relocating to another
country, respondents had the opportunity to tell the story of the whole process of relocation
and consequently, giving their point of view of the events.
The small sample of three respondents permits relevant association to their social reality and
gives the analysis of data a broader chance to explore different points of view. Although
qualitative analysis generally involves great amount of respondents and thus the data to be
analysed, this research proposes finding out detailed information of how the issues were
presented to each respondent, taking into consideration their own experiences.
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5.0 Findings and Analysis
In order to maintain a credible structure and insight of the analysis, the narrative analysis will
be used in combination with comparison perspective, bearing in mind the supportive
approaches demonstrated in the guidelines (Appendix A) of Collings et al. (2011). As the
sample will contain three respondents’ stories and points of view and they will be the focus
data, there may be gaps in the outcomes provided since the theory shows that content analyses
is most valuable if they demonstrate a comparative outlook from a considerable number of
sources (Berger, 2000).
The interpretive indexing displayed below will help accommodate the data collected in a
consistent way, however, it can assess a too broad amount of interpretations and a mix of
different concepts the respondents might provide. For this reason, subheadings will be limited
to the pattern developed to structure the interview (Mason, 2006).
Reading Guidelines
The interview pattern described in the previous chapter will serve as a guide to the description
of the findings and the analysis. It is important to emphasise how this pattern will assist with
the aim of this research, which consists of assessing the issues of the family that can influence
the expatriate’s premature return. Respondents will be referred as R1 (Respondent 1), R2
(Respondent 2) and R3 (Respondent 3) and their respective countries of relocation as well as
their family characteristics will be displayed in Appendix B. Pauses in their speech are
indicated as (...). They will be answering questions related to:
(1) The expatriate selection process, where the respondent will reflect on whether the
expatriate communicated to her how the selection process was promoted, her participation in
the decision-making and in which extent she felt included in the selection process. As
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19
explored in the literature, the participation in the early decision-making process can build
confidence in the family, providing foundations that will allow acceptance and willingness in
moving abroad and are likely to support the expatriate in the decision to stay in the new
country;
(2) The expatriate’s family preparation: according to the literature available, after the
expatriate moves to the host country with his family, their premature return will be related to
poor pre-training in the home country and how the family is aided before their departure until
/ during their stay in the new country. It is said that most premature returns are associated
with the lack of information about the new country and how the family can deal with new
experiences, lack of language skills and the absence of mentoring.
(3) The expatriate’s family in the host country: this section represents some consequential
effect reflecting on the lack of early support and mentoring. Also, the respondents will be able
to detail issues they faced during their relocation, which contributed to temporary (or definite)
disinterest in staying in the new country. Issues can vary inter alia in terms of availability of
similar aspects to the original country (aspects that give the feeling of ‘home’), distress,
loneliness, daily routines and false or high expectations.
5.1 The Expatriate selection process
From the three interviews, the first relevant information gathered was related to the spouses
being included in the selection process during the decision-making. Their general perceptions
tended to assume that the organisations their partners work at did not include them directly
(the respondents) in the selection process. They assumed that the organisations were
interested in the expatriates’ technical skills and that the expatriates themselves had the role to
communicate their concerns and decisions at home.
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20
R1 and her husband have no children. She explains that her husband spoke to her about the
selection process and because he had already been to the new country (Sweden) three times,
he could propose a number of conditions that should be met by the organisation so the family
would accept the offer. R1 says:
‘My husband is not an easy person (...). His conditions weren’t the easiest but he wanted the best for us
and he knew (sorry for the lack of modesty) that they needed him because he is very good in what he does
– for example, when there was a problem in Sweden, he’d solve it with just one call from Brazil. The
conditions you mean? Humm... Among other things, he wanted the company to provide containers for our
stuff and send them to Stockholm, he wanted a good flat for us to live and feel as if we were home, a
private Swedish course for both of me, he wanted them to give me tips of how to find a job. Apart from
that, I wasn’t part of the selection process. They decided they wanted my husband to go and they only
knew that I was going to move with him. I don’t really think they would call me and ask me if I was
prepared or something like that but my husband was very sensitive about what I would need there and
showed them the conditions’.
The proposed conditions seem to indicate that R1 received information about the job and the
selection through her expatriate husband and consequently they were able to decide on what
was necessary for them to live in the new country.
R2 was never consulted by the organisation about her willingness to relocate with her
husband, however while her husband was going through the selection process, she helped him
decide whether to relocate because she was overloaded with work in Brazil and thought this
would be a good opportunity to try something new. She explained:
‘My life was very hectic in Brazil because of my work – it took me two hours a day to get to work and
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21
two hours to get home – and I’ve always wanted to move somewhere I didn’t need to worry about
violence. I wanted to give a better life to my daughter too – she was only two years old at the time and
has always been my priority. When my husband told me about the offer, I immediately started looking for
work in my field in Amsterdam. I found a job before my husband had accepted the offer! I didn’t receive
much information about his job but I was more than ready to try something new. (...) I can say that I was
more determined to move to Amsterdam than my husband.’
R3 understands that the involvement in the selection process she underwent was associated
with the type of information her husband provided at home. By receiving information through
him about the selection process, it was her opportunity to give him her opinion, support and
advice. R3 describes the situation:
‘(...) so I wanted to give my opinion about his career and I asked him about details of the job, what type
of benefits he and we as a family would receive. His boss only spoke to me about the relocation
eventually when we were at a company function. I felt involved because every step of what was discussed
at work with my husband’s boss, he’d tell me and I think that my excitement and confidence made him
feel ready to accept the offer. (...) I think that he only accepted the offer because I was supporting him.’
In the literature, Takeuchi et al. (2002) relate the involvement with spouses / partners in the
selection process to the expatriate’s successful stay in the new country. They point out that
organisations should involve the spouses/partners in the selection process but they do not
specify how this involvement should be put into practice. Anderson (2006) suggests that
Human Resource departments should be aware of this involvement and should engage both
expatriate and his spouse / partner in the selection process. The extent in which the
expatriates’ wives felt involved seems to differ in how much information they had access to
through their husbands.
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22
5.2 The Expatriate’s family preparation
In this section of the interview, respondents seemed more comfortable with the theme, which
favoured the application of unstructured questions. Two of the respondents (R1 and R2)
revealed that their respective husbands’ organisations did not offer them any considerable predeparture training. However, they mentioned that the organisations had sent their husbands to
the new country before, which it can imply that the organisations had some concern with their
adjustment. In the interview, R1 clarifies:
‘(...) my husband used to contact the company’s headquarter in Sweden and he actually visited the
country three times before. I think that this was some kind of training they gave to him but it took
about one year for them to make the offer. Hmm my training? There was no training for me but I got all
the information from my husband. Of course, I had to look for more information on the
internet and my husband was also interested in knowing more about the country. The company didn’t
provide anything apart from the benefits they said we’d have while we were in Sweden and the removals
of our stuff from Brazil. (...) They gave us six months to relocate. Maybe if I didn’t have the information
my husband gave me about Sweden when he visited the country, it’d have been more difficult for me to
live there. (...) One of the things he told me at the time was that everything was really expensive so things
I was used to in Brazil, like doing my nails every week or eating a nice piece of steak at least three times
a week would have to be less frequent. I was aware of some of the things but I was open to experience
new things.’
R2 stresses her experience during the interview:
‘I’m an academic so I think I had some good geographic and historic idea of the Netherlands and in the
case, Amsterdam. I didn’t receive formal training but I think the three weeks my husband spent in
Amsterdam during the winter was for him to have a glance of how his job would be like and when he
came back he transferred the information to me. (...) Maybe the company should’ve given us more
attention because our daughter was only two years old and I think that information about schools
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23
would’ve been great. (...) What I knew was that the public schools were good. I was a little worried about
my daughter in Amsterdam – but we’re positive that everything would go fine once we’re there. I found a
job at a hospital there before I arrived as I said and I was always wondering what to do with my daughter
alone at that age in childcare – it broke my heart every time I thought about it. Ah My husband told me
that his work in Amsterdam was not as intense as in Brazil and that it seems like people appreciated his
skills better there than in Brazil – my husband doesn’t have a bachelor, he’s a technician and people don’t
appreciate it much in Brazil, i.e. they only give importance to titles. This made me more confident
and the company said his income would be above the average in the Netherlands so it’s good news. I had
the feeling that he’d be treated well in Amsterdam. (...) The company said they’d deal with the visas,
flight tickets, hotel once we got there for a month and they’d help us with the deposit for a flat.’
Tye and Chen (2005) argue that most organisations lack appropriate practices in their Human
Resources departments related to the support of the expatriate’s family in terms of predeparture training. On the other hand, four-fifths of the companies that participated in a
survey (Brookfield, 2010) offer pre-departure. As opposed to R1 and R2, R3 describes her
experience with pre-departure training, before she relocated to Spain with her husband.
‘I don’t think I’d have come to Spain if my husband’s company didn’t show they cared about my
wellbeing. The first thing I heard is that I’d have to learn Spanish because even if it’s similar to
Portuguese, I’d need to learn it if I wanted to find a job – they don’t speak good English in Spain. They
provided some kind of introductory Spanish course – Spanish for beginners. I’m lucky I did it because I
thought it’d be easy to learn Spanish but some words have a totally different meaning to what I learned in
Portuguese. They gave us a couple of brochures: one of them was a Barcelona guide and the other one
was about living in Spain. I think that the company wrote these brochures but I’m not sure. They also told
me that in Barcelona we’d be introduced to a group of expatriates who met up socially, if we wanted. (...)
We also met a couple who’d just come back from a three year contract in Spain and we (my husband and
I) tried to ask them as much as we could about their experience. I think this was something that the
company did for us.’
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Among other relevant information, the respondents presented their personal concerns and
expectations about what they would experience in the new country. Ehnert and Brewster
(2008) claim that pre-departure training should involve factors for development, such as
tolerance for stress, emotional maturity, language and relational skills. By assessing the
respondents’ personal concerns and expectations, it can be feasible to relate the pre-departure
training mentioned above to the degree of development the respondents could have had access
to. That is, the pre-concerns the respondents had before their departure could have been
minimised with pre-departure training, avoiding potential future premature return.
R1 defines her pre-departure expectations:
‘(...) I was very curious about Stockholm. I was just worried about the language because I had never
heard it before. I tried to lower my expectations because I knew in the beginning I’d see the sun very
occasionally (...) I wouldn’t speak to other people but to my husband until I could speak the language. Ah
I wanted to find a job too but how I’d have to depend on my husband for most things – this was not good
even if he said that I didn’t have to worry about it (...) I worried because I always worked in Brazil and
had my own income.’
R2 associated her personal concerns with what would implicate their daughter’s adjustment,
rather than her own adjustment:
‘I was in part confident that I could learn Dutch fast because I think I’m a fast learner and I really wanted
to be independent, although I could speak English. (...) While I had to be at work, my daughter would be
in childcare, so I wanted to speak to the people there and know how my daughter was coping with these
changes – it was the first time he’d be apart from us. The thought of leaving her with those people by
herself without knowing the language was sooo scary.’
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25
As pre-departure concerns, Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al. (2005) understand that schooling, socioeconomic situation, networks, friends, availability of good and job as well as shopping
facilities have great impact on the family. R3 did not mention the same types of concerns R1
and R2 explained in their interview. Instead she stressed that she would miss her friends, as
follows:
‘We’re saying good-bye to family and friends already and I was scared that it’d be hard to make new
friends – and to leave my friends back in Brazil. I’m more attached to my friends than to my family and
to leave them it was very hard. (...) If I could ask the company to do something for me, I think I’d have
asked for some kind of contacts with other Brazilians in similar situation or I’d have asked them for flight
tickets for my friends. It sounds childish but I knew I’d miss them very much’.
The pre-departure training can serve to reduce discrepancies between concerns the
expatriates’ spouses/partners might have before their departure and the ones they face while
they are in the new country – the concerns can be the same as before or new to them,
according to what they experience in their daily lives. The expatriates’ spouses/partners’
adjustment could be foreseen from this point where they exposed their uncertainties. From the
information gathered in this section, it will be possible to compare expectations and fears they
had before to what they experienced when they arrived and lived in the new country.
5.3 The Expatriate’s family in the host country
Even if the organisations and the Human Resource departments provide pre-defined
assistance to expatriates’ spouses/partners before their relocation, each individual will have
different reactions to similar situations (Mendenhall and Stahl, 2000).
When R1 arrived in Stockholm (Sweden), she had access to brochures, private Swedish
course, information about how / where to find jobs and telephone numbers in case of
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26
emergency. What she tells can picture a situation where the spouse has the information about
where to look for jobs but has no luck because she says she lacks sufficient language skills.
According to the literature, if the organisation provides a course it can minimise the
expatriate’s spouse’s negative impact. In her case, the course was not enough to improve her
ability to find a suitable job and attenuate her frustration. She elaborates:
‘Everything was sooo empty when I arrived. I thought to myself ‘where has everyone gone?’ (...) I was
used to the chaos in Sao Paulo (Brazil) that even at 1 am I’d see people chatting on the streets. It was
winter in Stockholm. (...) I can speak Swedish now after four years here but it isn’t enough to find a job.
I’m still struggling even after the assistance I got from the company. (...) It’s frustrating to send CVs and
expect an interview that never comes to my inbox. Then I think ‘Am I going to feel productive again?’ or
‘Will they ever give me a chance to work again?’ (...) I’ve thought about studying something more
technical – just like my husband – but when I see how people work at his company, I can feel this type of
job is just not for me. (...) Then I had to use my husband’s bank account, his card and although I’m not a
shopaholic, I still call him to ask if what I’m buying is too expensive – in the beginning it felt like a crisis
in my life but after a while I earned some money editing videos and now I’m more used to using his
money. But still it doesn’t feel right (...)’
Before R2 went to Amsterdam (The Netherlands), she lowered her expectations in order to
avoid potential frustrations. She had a job awaiting her arrival in Amsterdam when she
relocated with her husband and daughter and she thought that her life would take a new path,
more organised and she would be able to develop her career in the new country. Parts of her
interview were comprised below to demonstrate how the level of expectations as well as
reactions can vary from person to person:
‘We arrived and I had one week before I started at the new job so I went to the childcare with my
daughter and she cried so much when I left I couldn’t leave her there. I stayed there with her every day of
the week for at least two hours just to see if she’d calm down. (...) I ended up starting at the new job one
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month later. I knew my boss wouldn’t like it but it was my daughter there. I felt very bad even after this
one month so I quit my job because I was feeling ill. (...). After about three or four months I saw that my
daughter was happier, she wouldn’t cry when I left her in the childcare and she had made one friend.
After seven months here she could speak both Portuguese and Dutch – now she teaches me how to
pronounce some words properly. I’ve been here for three years and I must admit I thought it’s going to be
easier than this. The language (Dutch) is gradually improving but I can’t have a serious conversation yet.
(...) Ah something that the organisation didn’t mention is that we had to pay months in advance and this
was such a big cut off on our income! I wish they had given us more practical information.’
When the relocation is concluded, organisations tend to offer job placement assistance, buddy
systems, networking and mentoring (Collings et al., 2011), which can contribute to the
expatriate’s spouse/partner’s adjustment. In the interviews, the respondents – without
exception – had access to social meetings where other expatriates’ spouses could share their
opinions and experiences. R1 and R2 said they expected to be introduced to these types of
meetings but they had to look for them by themselves, whereas R3 had been informed about
regular events in the company where she could meet other expatriates’ spouses. R3 showed a
negative reaction towards these meetings with expatriates’ spouses/partners:
‘In the beginning the idea sounded good but after the second meeting I couldn’t understand why those
ladies had to complain about everything. I thought it’s a social event and we’re there to exchange
experiences but it sounded like we’re there to say bad things about the place and the people. In the third
invitation, I decided to go somewhere else and I only see those people very occasionally. I just thought I
was there to add something to my life, not to complain – if I was there to complain, I think I’d just go
back to Brazil because we do have a lot to complain about it’.
The expatriate’s spouse / partner’s adjustment will depend on how expectations before their
departure and during their stay in the new country are handled. Also, what is experienced in
this new environment has an important impact on adjustment. Respondents demonstrate that
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uncertainties and doubts about continuing in the place can arise for different reasons. Some of
the reasons were not directly related to previous knowledge about the country or to the
presence of pre-departure training.
R1 has been in Stockholm for four years and has developed relationships with other
expatriates’ wives she attributes as a family:
‘We’ve become a family here and I think they helped me adjust here. I’d say that after one month I was
feeling more confident with being in Stockholm (...) Sometimes I really miss my family back in Brazil
and a couple of years ago my dad had a stroke. So I thought about going back because I wasn’t with my
family during hard times, to comfort them. It really hit me to think that my parents were getting older and
I wasn’t there, I was living my life. I spoke to my husband about it, he understood me and said that we
could go back anytime. After a while (...) after a few weeks, we had a serious conversation and decided
that it’s our life and we should stay even if sometimes it’s hard – I don’t even have a formal job yet.’
R2 has been in Amsterdam for about three years and she is concerned with her stability:
‘I’ve been here for all this time and I can say that I was more comfortable with the system, the language
and the people after about a year. (...) Many things happened during this first year, I got ill – I was feeling
burnt out with all the changes, my daughter’s adaptation and the job here. When I felt better I looked for a
career coach and I decided to change my career completely, do something different. (...) I’ve never
thought about going back to Brazil but now the government is stricter about immigrants and if you can’t
speak the language properly it’s even harder to get your visa extended. My husband and I think that If it
gets too complicated to stay here, it’ll be better to move back to Brazil. I wouldn’t like it though but it’s
beyond my power’.
R3 has been in Barcelona for 2.5 years and she discussed her thoughts about considering
going back home:
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‘I like Barcelona and I’ve been enjoying their life style a lot. (...) I never had the intention to stay in
Barcelona all my life so I plan to go back to Brazil in a year and sometimes I really want to go back. It’s
not because I don’t like it here but I really miss my friends (...) and I miss the food from Brazil too. I go
to Brazil twice a year, I eat my family’s food and I have to bring back a bag with the food we have there.
(...) I bring coffee too! I tell my husband that I can’t wait till his contract is finished – and I hope he won’t
extend it – and we can go back. I don’t think he likes when I say this but I don’t know if he extended his
contract I’d stay longer. (...) I avoid telling him that I’m not completely happy here because I know it’d
interfere in his job.’
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6.0 Discussion
In this section I will provide a discussion connecting the results obtained from the data
collected and analysis with previous literature and possible implications and limitations of this
research. Recommendations to future research ideas will be included whenever appropriate.
6.1 The Expatriate selection process
Based on the findings described in the previous section, I would argue that organisations do
not include expatriates’ wives in the selection process as suggested by Takeuchi et al. (2002),
where the involvement of expatriates’ spouses / partners in the selection process is considered
important for the expatriates’ acceptance and willing to relocate. The respondents said that
their husbands had the role to communicate what was happening in the selection process at
home giving the wives the opportunity to demonstrate their opinion.
The information the expatriates provided to their wives were based on their perspectives,
which can mean that they could have accidently omitted details that were important to their
wives. Also, when I say that organisations do not include expatriates’ wives in the selection
process, this is based on the respondents’ perceptions. In addition, it is important to note that
organisations might prefer avoiding interference in the communication between expatriates
and their wives. For instance, R1’s and R2’s husbands have visited the host countries before
and could pass on more realistic and accurate information to their wives than the
organisations. As in Thomas and Lazarova (2006), visits and briefings provided by the
organisation can anticipate perceptions of general adjustment.
The implication of my findings regards to how accurate and sensitive the selection process
information was passed from organisations to the expatriates and then forwarded to the wives.
I would suggest that for this part of data collection, it would be more appropriate to gather
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information directly from organisations and, if they do not include spouses in the selection
process, the expatriates should be the next source.
6.2 The Expatriate’s family preparation
In consideration of the results on pre-departure training availability and the concerns the
wives had before their departure, I would suggest that most organisations lack appropriate
practices in Human Resource departments regarding support to expatriates’ family in terms of
pre-departure training. This is also stressed in Tye and Chen’s (2005) article. Organisations
do present one or two practices to reduce poor adjustment but the guidelines introduced by
Collings et al (2011) are not similar to what the organisations in this research have provided.
Perhaps, the guidelines have been proposed as the ideal practices but it can be costly for the
organisations to develop such systematic steps (Appendix A).
According to R1 and R2, the information provided was based on their husbands’ single
experiences. It is important to say that their husbands spent a limited amount of time in the
host countries and most of this time they were either working or sightseeing. With reference
to the whole family relocation, this inference cannot be considered reasonable and substantial
information.
Again, because of their husbands, their perception of the host country had a potential for bias.
R1 and R2 feared the language (perhaps because their husbands thought it was difficult to
learn) and the weather (they might prefer tropical weather). The danger of such biased
information can provoke different opinions about the host country and they might be
divergent, which can contribute to their early return. R2 received pre-departure practical
support for her child (childcare) and in terms of visa and other documents. R3 also received
practical support and her concerns involved psychological aspects, i.e. she would miss her
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friends. In order to have positive adjustment, Haslberger and Brewster (2008) claim that both
psychological and practical support should be combined.
In the Brookfield (2010) research, four-fifths of the organisations who participated in the
survey offer pre-departure training practices. I would suggest that in future research, these
practices were listed and compared so to have a clear idea of what organisations offer.
6.3 The Expatriate’s family in the host country
The findings showed somewhat different results than I had predicted in the light of the
literature. For instance, R3 seemed to have received basic but more pre-departure support than
the other respondents. However, she has been planning to go back to Brazil. Her concern is
with her emotional aspects towards friends. Harvey and Novicevic (2001) perceive that
development features, such as emotional stability and maturity and language skills are aligned
to the family willingness to stay in the new country.
The concerns presented by R1 and R2 had another nature and were related to practical
feasibility. R2 is concerned with the government’s anti-immigration policies in the
Netherlands – this is a concern beyond her control and it has been raising her motivation to
move back to Brazil.
It seems difficult to foresee issues before relocation as they are likely to appear with time.
Also, each individual will have different reactions to similar situations (Mendenhall and Stahl,
2000) and for this reason, ongoing psychological and practical training and mentoring should
be offered to the expatriate’s family. Future studies could try to find out how organisations
can offer better mentoring systems as well as psychological and practical training in the host
country.
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7.0 Conclusion
This dissertation looked at a range of practical information, issues and experiences from the
point of view of the expatriates’ spouses / partners. Their personal views were examined from
their husbands’ selection process to relocate, passing through pre-departure training and
expectations and finally outlining their experiences in the host country.
In the literature, expatriates’ spouses / partners and children are deemed to have great negative
impact on their premature return. Therefore, the perspective of spouses / partners about
expectations, issues and what these issues can imply in their lives was assessed. Also, the
literature identifies Human Resource department practices in regards to supporting the
expatriates’ families, i.e. how the organisation can contribute to their adjustment in the host
country. The findings in this dissertation, however, suggest how the expatriates’ spouses /
partners understand these support practices and their personal view of their process of
adjustment.
The support the expatriates’ spouses received was focused on their upcoming practical needs
in the host country (such as language course, visa application support and job search).
Psychological needs that could have been supported / developed by the organisation before
their relocation (such as resilience, emotional stability and maturity, mentoring) were not part
of their Human Resource department practices. It can be concluded that the expatriates’
spouses’ view of the issues they experience reflected on personal unforeseen challenges that
arise with time, which should gain attention from the organisations’ Human Resource
departments.
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Aspects indicating some level of limitation appear in this dissertation:

In the literature review, studies do not only consider females as accompanying the
expatriates. Results might have been different and perspectives described by
respondents could have taken other direction if I had included males in the spouse /
partner category;

The lifestyle the respondents had in Brazil is not observed – the country presents large
differences in income per person. If their lives in Brazil did not offer improvements
they would be likely to want to live in another country with better life conditions;

The interview was conducted in Portuguese and translated later into English.
Interpretations and idiomatic expressions can have slightly changed the real meaning
of the words;

Adjustment was defined in the expatriates’ wives points of view and it can vary from
person to person. For R2, her adjustment was implied in her daughter’s adjustment;
therefore, she stressed the need support related to her child wellbeing.
Despite the presented conclusive remarks, this dissertation indicates open-ended investigation
as it revealed other gaps between what organisations do to avoid expatriates’ premature return
and what is necessary or appropriate depending on the expatriates’ family’s needs.
Word count: 9938.
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9.0 Appendices
9.1 Appendix A
Guidelines on Expatriates' Support
Transition Point
Support Practices
Decision to go
Weigh up possible risks and benefits for future career options
Consider the potential impact on life and family
What happens if I do / do not take the assignment
Six months before assignment
Equip the individual with career resilience and the ability to self-manage
their career and transitions
Inter-cultural training
Spouse / family programs
Language and communications
Set up a mentor for them
Clarify medium and long term personal goals
One week before leaving
Deal with the emotional impact of the imminent change
Monthly while away
Regular updates in both directions to maintain business and organisational
knowledge, including career opportunities
Mentoring support
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9.2 Appendix B
Respondents Characteristics
Characteristics
Respondent 1 (R1)
Respondent 2 (R2)
Respondent 3 (R3)
Country of Origin
Brazil
Brazil
Brazil
Country of Relocation
Sweden
The Netherlands
Spain
Time in the new country
4 years
3 years
2.5 years
Family Structure
No children
5 year old child
No children
Worked before relocating?
Yes
Yes
No
Age
34
36
27
Still living in the host country?
Yes
Yes
Yes
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