Quantitative research on the emotional, relational and material dimensions of home is scant, particularly among international migrants and in a comparative perspective. This chapter reviews the literature available and revisits the methodology and findings of the HOMInG 2019 survey among Ecuadorian labour migrants in Madrid, Milan and London. Large-scale evidence on the lived experience of home and the underlying attitudes may nuance much common wisdom on the topic, besides “calibrating” the influence of different structural and demographic factors. We substantiate this premise in five key points: i. There is little gender variation in emotions and ideals about home; ii. There is a difference between normative and emotional foundations of home (i.e. “calling a place home” vs “feeling at home” there); iii. The temporalities of home change along the interplay between age and length of stay; iv. Past retention and future-oriented continuity are minor influences on migrants’ ways of feeling at home; v. The diffusion of migrants’ transnational housing is relatively limited.
Handbook on Home and Migration
Exploring home and migration through quantitative research: enlarging scales, unsettling questions
