This thesis focuses on transnational health and social care professional women working and living in North West England. It draws on interviews exploring participants' personal migration stories, and work and social life in the UK's public and private health and care sectors, including social care, clinical support, nursing, midwifery, and physician roles. In-depth qualitative interviews with sixteen women included one visual data piece per participant. Participants' drawings illustrated their migratory journeys, revealing unique aspects of their aims and reasons. While labour migration literature often focuses on work conditions and healthcare workers' movements to the UK, this thesis also addresses social issues and North West England's socio-economic context in times of austerity and the care crisis. The study explores how participants imagine better lives and seek to achieve them through migration.
The thesis argues that an immigrant's life cannot be reduced to work experience; better lives are multi-layered and include diverse aspirations and expectations. The idea of a ‘better life’ is circulated globally and socially constructed, with particular social and cultural values attached. Participants' lives are influenced by UK immigration policies and regulations specific to EU/non-EU countries. This group of women are socially and occupationally divided, valued according to their skill levels and categorised by immigration policies in the country and its specific conditions of entry and settlement. The thesis contributes to sociology research, in general, and migration research, in particular, by examining how participants in different caring roles navigate visa and occupational categories, problematising commonly deployed categorisations such as ‘skilled’ vs. ‘unskilled workers.’ Ultimately, the thesis shows that state-driven migration pathways clash with migrants' pursuit of a ‘better life,’ impeding their settlement and ability to contribute to the UK care sector.