n the context of migration, different perspectives of child agency can influence childcare practices and may create tensions within families and in the host society. This study explores the individual, relational, environmental, and cultural factors that influence how child agency is understood and exercised within immigrant households. Focus group discussions were conducted with first‐ and second‐generation immigrant children (12‐ to 17‐year‐old) (N = 46) and parents (N = 19) from South‐Asia, Latin‐America and the Caribbean in Montreal. Our findings suggest that children exercise agency by taking actions to ensure their own safety and contributing to their families’ needs. Moreover, we found that negotiating children’s agency is influenced by the nature of the parent–child relationship, the material and social resources available to the family, and the perceived and lived experiences of authority and safety in the host society. This study advances our understanding of how immigrant children contribute to their families and the role that contextual factors play in shaping, promoting and hindering child agency. Policy makers and service providers in host societies should consider the perspectives of immigrant children and parents in order to develop a more culturally responsive understanding of the elements and processes that influence childcare and supervision practices of immigrant families.

Keywords: Canada; child agency; child supervision; childcare practices; cross‐cultural perspectives; immigrant families

Growing levels of worldwide migration are transforming our demographic landscapes and with them our understanding of family, culture and society. In Canada, more than one in five people are born abroad and more than one in three children have at least one foreign‐born parent (Statistics Canada, 2017), giving rise to an increasingly ethnoculturally diverse society. This paper looks at how immigrant families in Montreal negotiate how agency is expressed within their households and the various internal and external factors that influence this negotiation.

Resettling into a new society often drives new ways of functioning within immigrant families and with the larger society. Childcare and supervision practices are negotiated between child(ren) and parents, as well as between the family and host society (Ayón et al., 2019). Newcomer families face several challenges related to childcare and supervision during resettlement, such as limited support networks and available services (Putnam, 2007; Radey, 2015; Salami, Alaazi, Okeke‐Ihejirika, et al., 2020); restricted social and material resources (Morantz et al., 2013); discrimination and racism (Beiser, 2005; Kirmayer et al., 2011); language barriers (Maiter & Stalker, 2011; Paat, 2013); and high levels of parenting stress (Liu et al., 2020; Yu & Singh, 2012). These challenges are often compounded by fear of parenting practices being labelled inadequate or neglectful and reported to child welfare authorities (Klassen et al., 2020; Sawrikar, 2014). Children play a significant part in the transitions immigrant families undergo to adapt to a new society and in the negotiation of the roles they play and the norms that shape their everyday life (Orellana, 2009; Sy & Romero, 2008).

The recognition of children’s agency as their capacity to act and contribute to their surroundings as social agents is crucial to understanding children’s roles within the family, as well as how these affect their protection and development. Drawing from work about migrant children by Thompson et al. (2019), this article defines agency as ‘an individual’s intrinsic capacity for intentional behaviour developed within their environment(s) and subject to environmental influence’ (p. 236), recognizing that the development and exercise of agency is shaped by the child and their surrounding actors and environments. Some authors argue for an ‘ambiguous agency’ that connects agents to their everyday actions and challenges normative conceptions of childhood and expected behaviours only to be demonstrated in appropriate spaces (Bordonaro & Payne, 2012; Payne, 2012). Social studies of childhood have increasingly recognized children as social agents who have the capacity to interpret situations, think critically and make choices in areas that matter to them. However, discussions about child agency are often localized to childhood studies and isolated from other related disciplines and broader social processes (Ansell, 2009; Hoikkala & Pösö, 2020). The United Nations General Assembly (1989) Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children have the right to express their views freely and that these views should have weight in decisions of matters that affect them. In this light, children may be seen as valuable contributors to family relations (Katz, 2015) and family functioning (Chee et al., 2014). Moreover, strengthening child agency is not only related to healthy development (Gurdal et al., 2016) and crucial for children’s self‐esteem, but it is also a fundamental part of their protection (Lansdown, 2020).

Across cultures, children learn from and contribute to their families, communities and society through their participation in these spheres (Abebe & Waters, 2016). The ways and extent to which they participate are shaped by cultural, social and economic factors. Anchored in extensive cross‐cultural study, Lancy (2018) presents children as ‘helpers’ who ‘learn by doing’, participate in collective activities, interpret family needs and autonomously provide assistance to their families and communities by assuming gradual tasks as they grow up. Children’s initiative and contributions are often valued and promoted by the family (Ames, 2013), who may either share responsibilities such as caring for family members (Lancy & Grove, 2011), or limit their involvement to ‘appropriate’ tasks delegated by the parents (Coppens et al., 2016). Children may express agency by caring for themselves and others, for instance when they are home alone (Ruiz‐Casares, Rousseau, et al., 2012). This form of participation requires a negotiation between the child’s own needs and those of their family (Riley & Steinberg, 2004). Taking initiative and making valuable contributions to the family may facilitate children’s sense of responsibility and self‐worth (Alcalá et al., 2014). Studies have shown that children are aware of how their help contributes to the collective wellbeing of their families and their feeling of belonging (Ames, 2013) and are often eager to collaborate (Coppens & Alcalá, 2015).

In the context of migration, recognizing children as social agents and centring their experiences in decisions that affect them is essential to their protection in the host society (Crawley, 2010). A growing literature on the agency of migrant children suggests the complexity and diversity of lived experiences, and recognizes that local constructions of childhood and child agency may undermine or promote children’s agentic capacities (Hoang & Yeoh, 2015; Orgocka, 2012). Migrant children may express their agency by developing personal strategies (Thompson et al., 2019), influencing decision‐making processes within their families (Medvedeva, 2012) and assuming the role of a language broker when translating for their parents (Orellana, 2009).

This article presents data from Geographies of Care, a multisite study about childcare practices and (in)adequate supervision across cultures in the province of Quebec. The study gathered perspectives of child agency in the context of supervision from children, parents and family‐serving professionals.

Study participants were first‐ and second‐generation immigrants either born or with parents born in South‐Asia (SA), Latin‐America (LA) and the Caribbean (CA); fluent in English and/or French; and currently living in Montreal, a multicultural city and one of the top three destinations in Canada for international migration. In 2016, 23% of the total population in private households in the city were racialized minorities (Statistics Canada, 2015) and 26% and 16% were first‐ and second‐generation immigrants, respectively. Half of immigrants born overseas originated from Asia (28% of all immigrants) and the Americas (22%). Between 2011 and 2016, 19% of immigrants were under 15 years old (Statistics Canada, 2017).

Most children in the study were born in Montreal (N = 24), whereas a few had migrated from other cities in Canada (N = 2), from other countries (N = 18) or did not provide this information (N = 2). Adult participants were primary caregivers/parents of at least one child under 18 years. They were first‐generation immigrants, had between one and five children and lived in Quebec for at least 5 years. Children and adults were recruited through community‐based organizations serving these populations in Montreal. Unrelated participants were recruited to gain a more diverse representation of immigrant families. Table 1 shows the participant demographic characteristics.