This dissertation assesses the family-migration nexus. It comprises of the attached synopsis and four articles. The focus is on two major research questions: (1) How does migration affect family patterns? And (2) How do these family patterns (and other social relations) shape the consequences of migration with respect to other life domains?

The first two articles refer to the first research question as they assess the effect of migration on partnership stability (article one) and family formation (article two). From a theoretical perspective, two directions of potential effects can be distinguished: Migration may disrupt (disruption hypothesis) or interrelate with family processes (interrelation hypothesis). The remaining two articles refer to the second research question: Article three investigate the role of family patterns in shaping the economic consequences of emigration, and article four moves away from the family and focuses on the relation between cross-border friendships of emigrants and subjective well-being. Theoretical considerations on these patterns can again be summarized in two opposing lines of arguments: the family and friends may either represent a barrier or a bridge to successful post-migration outcomes.

Analyses are based on the German Emigration and Remigration Panel Study (GERPS). Thus, the research questions are analysed considering international migration from a highly developed welfare state. Patterns are investigated applying the origin-perspective (i.e. based on comparisons to non-migrants at origin, using pairfam data) and the migration-perspective (i.e. relative to the migration event and the own life course).

Results suggest that – referring to the first research question – migration appears to have a rather disruptive effect in the short-term: it increased the risk of union dissolution and decreased the probability of first birth. Regarding the second research question, evidence of more traditional work-family arrangements after emigration was found for some family patterns. Furthermore, positive associations between cross-border friendships and emigrant’s subjective well-being were detected. Importantly, with respect to both research questions, patterns were found to differ crucially by migration direction, migration reasons and gender – and especially the combination of gender with the two migration characteristics.