Whose Crisis, Whose Gain? The Socio-economic Consequences of Care Migration from Serbia to Germany

This article investigates the phenomenon of care migration by analyzing the socioeconomic impacts associated with the internationalization of care work, using Serbia and Germany as case studies. Over recent decades, various social, economic, and demographic transformations have significantly affected the availability of both paid and unpaid care work. Notable trends—including population aging driven by declining fertility rates and increased life expectancy, reductions in average household size, and rising female labor force participation—have fundamentally reshaped the organization and provision of care services. These shifts have exacerbated the persistent global care crisis and underscored the growing role of migrant care workers in care provision. Drawing on the concepts of “global care chains” and “crisis of care”, this study analyzes the dynamics of care and migration, focusing on how policy and practice shape the integration of migrant care labor into transnational eldercare sector, with Serbia and Germany as illustrative cases. The article pursues three primary objectives: first, to assess care arrangements and the management of transnational care in both countries; second, to outline Germany’s policy strategies aimed at balancing care demand and supply in eldercare provision; and third, to evaluate Serbia’s responses to its care gaps within the national social policy framework. The findings indicate that Germany and Serbia face rising eldercare demand, but respond with unequal capacities. Germany expands services and recruits migrant workers, while Serbia relies on informal care amid workforce outflows. Embedded in global care chains, these strategies redistribute—rather than resolve—care deficits, reinforcing cross-national inequalities and long-term sustainability challenges.