According to the president of the Lithuanian community in the United Kingdom Zita Čepaitė, parents’ decisions whether to return or not often depends on the child’s interests. When a child gets familiar with school, the wish to fall into uncertainty disappears.
“At first, expatriate children love Lithuania because it is a place where their grandparents and grandmothers live. But later, this country starts to look distant because a child gets used to the new surroundings. They find it hard to maintain affection for the homeland of their parents, and see it as a place they were not growing up in,” said Čepaitė to the daily Respublika.
Former president of the Lithuanian community in Norwich (England) Audronė Strasauskienė is convinced that many immigrants still hope to return to Lithuania, but it is easier to raise their children in England.
“The reason is very simple. People feel safe knowing that they will be able to provide for their children because parents receive a wide range of benefits, both cash benefits and housing benefits. Sometimes families come here just to have children,” says Strasauskienė.
