This study is a detailed exploration of how families cope both individually and as structures with the stresses of moving to a new culture. Through rich interviews conducted over a period of two years, Mary Haour-Knipe shows the processes of change and adjustment at work. As the world of work becomes increasingly a global one, employees of governments, companies and non-commercial organisations increasingly find themselves obliged to live abroad for years at a time, uprooting their families from jobs, schools and support networks in the process. The author’s findings will be of interest to students of wider issues of migration and to those who study the family under pressure.