Later-life Migration Research Articles

Life in a State of Limbo – Narratives of Place, Health, and Integration Among Later Life Female Migrants in Sweden

International migration is a prioritized domain of European aging research. Using a qualitative approach, the author has gathered accounts among Iranian later-life females in the Swedish city of Malmö, suffering from social isolation. The women in this article found themselves in a situation like that of other later-life migrants in Sweden. Several studies have shown how these groups are at risk of ending up in a social isolation which can be hard to break. The situation of the later-life migrant women discussed in this study is characterized by the loss of numerous deep-seated and natural social bonds connected to ethnicity, family, language, and culture. To cope with their exposed situation, the local Iranian-Swedish association provided some self-arranged activities, offering opportunities to social integration. The aim of the study is to demonstrate how the women described their life situation where a local day center made up the key foundation of their social life in a Swedish city in 2000–2008. Typical of that period was that solutions of the alarming situation of some foreign-born elderly citizens were discussed by local authorities, as well as volunteer organizations. Thus, the aim is not to describe the present situation among later life migrants. On the contrary, the perspective is retrospective. The theoretical inspirations used in the article derive from a broader backdrop of social-constructive assumptions that define narratives or accounts as explanations of the reality of everyday life and experiences. In the article the women’s stories are defined as small, local, erratic narratives, nevertheless explaining the reality of everyday life and experiences which in their turn reflect the state of illness, locally specific attachment and social isolation. Three salient themes emerge in the material: place bound experiences, illness and unsuccessful integration. The narratives are defined as small irregular accounts, contrasting larger narratives of later-life migration. The article shows how the women depicted their situation as a borderline between an Iranian life in exile and a Swedish society, leaving them in a state of Limbo. The women expressed ambitions of integrate into a Swedish community of senior citizens, providing privileges and civil rights. Thus, the narratives challenge common generalizing images of later-life migrants and their life conditions.

“My wife made me”: motivations for body and beauty work among older Korean and Chinese migrant adults in Australia

This article examines how older Korean and Chinese migrants living in Perth, Australia, engage in various beauty, grooming and fitness practices to negotiate “successful ageing” in transnational contexts. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 30 men and women aged between 60 and 89, we examine what social meanings are attached to these practices, and how the transnational context of living in Australia has influenced the participants’ perceptions of ageing and presentation of self in later life. Migration in later life is often considered in relation to the ‘host’ countries values and social practices, which can make it difficult for individuals to settle and feel a sense of belonging especially in later life. In this article, we will illustrate how gender, class, and cultural dispositions intersect and link with possibilities for defining and redefining successful ageing in migrant contexts. This study illustrates how successful ageing emerges as a malleable concept that draws on ideas of an ideal ageing body from the cultural values of the ‘home’ country, rather than the ‘host’ country. The findings illustrate how in everyday lived experience, the transnational habitus does not always necessarily result in a ‘divided habitus’ where the values of the ‘home’ country and that of the ‘host’ country are in conflict – even when the migration experience is relatively recent. Quite the contrary, the way the participants utilise everyday beauty, fitness and grooming practices to maintain a future-focused self in the context of ‘home’ country’s age-appropriate body ideals to perform signifiers of ‘successful migrant living’ point to the positive aspects that appearance management can have on an individual in later life, particularly in migrant contexts.

Early-Life Nutrition and Subsequent International Migration: A Prospective Study in Rural Guatemala

BackgroundIt is generally accepted that migrants are favorably self-selected for labor market skills such as higher schooling and greater cognitive capacity, which are highly correlated with early-life nutrition. However, the influence of early-life nutrition on later-life migration is understudied. ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to examine prospectively the association between height-for-age z scores (HAZ) at 24 mo and subsequent international migration in a cohort of 2392 participants born between 1962 and 1977 in 4 rural villages in eastern Guatemala. MethodsInformation on nutritional status and covariates was collected between 1969 and 1977 and migration status was determined as of 2017 (at ages 40–57 y). We used proportional hazards and logistic regression models to assess whether HAZ was associated with international migration, adjusting for early-life and adult characteristics. ResultsBetween 1978 and 2017 there were 297 international migrants (12.4% of the original cohort) during 99,212 person-y of follow-up. In pooled models that were adjusted for early-life characteristics, a 1-SD increase in HAZ was associated with a 19% increase in the risk of international migration (HR: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.02, 1.38). Further adjustment for village characteristics did not alter the estimate substantively (HR: 1.18; 95% CI: 1.02, 1.37), while additional adjustment for schooling attainment attenuated the estimate somewhat (HR: 1.14; 95% CI: 0.98, 1.33). In all models, effect sizes were stronger for men than for women. ConclusionsOur results indicate that early-life nutrition is positively associated with subsequent international migration.

Later-Life Migration in The Netherlands: Propensity to Move and Residential Mobility

As the populations age, there is a growing potential for later-life migration. In this study, the residential moving behavior of older adults in the Netherlands is examined. On the basis of pooled data from the Housing Research Netherlands (HRN) survey, we were able to reveal which factors are likely to influence considerations about moving and actual mobility. The results support the premise that residential mobility decreases with age. The strongest predictors of actual mobility were factors associated with the dwelling, while the neighborhood, particularly the extent of social cohesiveness, played a substantial role in explaining the older adults’ propensity to move.

Will my parents come to Australia when retired? Later-life transnational migration intentions of Chinese parents

Background China is the second largest source country of immigrants to Australia every year. The elderly parents of these working-age immigrants in Australia usually visit their children on a tourist visa, which allows short term family gatherings. These visits do not require much effort. However, when it comes to long-term transnational migration, the decision becomes hard to make and often involves complex factors, such as personal preferences and lifestyle choices.
 Aims This paper aims to examine the later-life transnational migration intentions of elderly Chinese parents and how the parents’ intentions are affected by personal preferences, personality and lifestyle differences between the generations.
 Data and methods This paper uses data from a two-stage study including an online survey and semi-structured interviews conducted in Sydney from October 2018 to May 2019 with both caregivers (adult children who are first-generation immigrants living in Australia) and their elderly parents.
 Results The study found that external contributors such as language barriers and transport dependence in Australia, and existing social ties as well as another adult child living in China, have a negative influence on moving to Australia.
 Conclusions Elderly parents with an optimistic and outgoing personality are more likely to consider moving to Australia compared to those who are more conservative. Foremost, conflicts due to different lifestyles between the generations reduces the possibility of parents’ later-life migration to Australia.

International retirement and later-life migrants in the Marche region, Italy: materialities of landscape, ‘home’, lifestyle and consumption

AbstractWithin the general framework of ‘lifestyle migration’, the paper explores three materialities associated with the arrival and settlement of British, German and Dutch later-life migrants in the Italian region of Marche, a relatively new ‘frontier’ region for international retirement migration. The first is about the aesthetics of landscape and the scenic and emotional qualities of the physical and social environment. The second concerns ‘home’, where we examine house types, property location and home-making practices in terms of ‘authenticity’, material objects and the cultivation of land for productive purposes. The paper's third thematic focus is on consumption patterns. Most of the 69 participants interviewed for this study hanker after what they perceive as a simpler, more genuine way of life, in tune with the surrounding mixed-farming agricultural environment and distinct from other regions where tourism has taken hold. Many grow their own produce, including some who have small vineyards and olive groves. They enjoy shopping in local markets, eating out in inexpensive local hostelries, visiting museums and cultural festivals, and exploring the many pretty villages and historic towns of the region. The participants embody later-life migration as ‘active ageing’, but those who are older and/or frailer must consider, often reluctantly, the reality of a less-active and more isolated life in the Italian countryside.

Psychological distress by age at migration and duration of residence in Sweden.

Migrants suffer from worse psychological health than natives in many countries, yet the extent to which this varies by age at migration and duration of residence in the receiving context remains unexplored in Sweden. Drawing on a life course approach, we investigate differences in psychological distress by age at migration and duration of residence in working-age migrants to Sweden, and examine the role of various social determinants of health in explaining these differences relative to Swedish-born.Using pooled cross-sectional data from the 2011/2015 Health on Equal Terms survey in Västra Götaland Region, Sweden (n = 58,428), we applied logistic regression analysis to calculate predicted probabilities and average marginal effects (AME) of migrant status, by age at migration and duration of residence, on psychological distress. Analyses were stratified by sex and region of origin and controlled for indicators of socioeconomic status (SES), social cohesion, and discrimination to assess their potential contribution to differences in migrants' and natives' psychological distress.All migrants except men from OECD-predominant regions had a greater probability of psychological distress than Swedish-born (ranging from AME 0.031 [95% Confidence Interval or CI 0.000–0.062] for OECD women to AME 0.115 [95% CI 0.074–0.156] for non-OECD men). Marginal effects of migration status on psychological distress probabilities generally increased with age at migration and duration of residence. Differences between migrants and natives were largely attenuated after controlling for social determinants, the greatest contribution coming from inequalities in social cohesion, followed by inequalities in discrimination and SES.Our results suggest a relative health advantage of early-life compared to later-life migration, albeit with worse outcomes with longer residence in Sweden. The predominance of integration opportunities in childhood strengthens calls for supportive policies to assist older migrants' integration directly upon arrival, which may ultimately improve their psychological wellbeing.

Older migrants reflecting on aging through attachment to and identification with places

With increasing numbers of older migrants adopting a transnational lifestyle or returning to their country of origin following retirement, the sense of attachment to and identification with the places they inhabit remains an under explored field of enquiry. Through an ethnographic approach, this paper seeks to raise awareness of the diversity within a group of older migrants, given the heterogeneity of affective bonds established with places. By highlighting the perspective of older Italian migrants living in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, this paper illustrates the role of a sense of identification with the context of migration in later life. In referring to migration as a process of transformation, some older Italians re-define their identities, as these become interwoven with the characteristics of the places in which they grow older. However, older migrants' sense of attachment to places also reveals the complexity of aging in the context of migration, when a sense of identification with these is never fully achieved in older age. This paper argues that the notion of aging that these older Italian migrants uphold is not only altered by their experience of migration, but also shaped through their identification with the places they inhabit, given formal and informal practices of identification. Thus, by addressing the determinants for a positive experience of aging in the context of migration, this paper challenges the ways in which older migrant groups are conceptualized in gerontological scholarship.

Challenges and adjustments in maintaining health and well-being of older Asian immigrants in New Zealand: An integrative review.

There is a paucity of health-related research on older Asian immigrants in New Zealand. The aim of this review was to critically examine literature on the health and well-being of this population group. An integrative literature review was conducted from December 2017 to February 2018. Online databases searched were Scopus, MEDLINE, CINAHL and the Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre. Two themes were identified: Firstly, the "challenges stemming from an unfamiliar environment" faced by older Asian immigrants, and secondly, their "strategies for adjusting to a new home." These themes suggested how participation in community and leisure activities, as well as adapting their outlook on life, contributed to these older migrants' health and well-being within a New Zealand context. A multitude of challenges in maintaining health and well-being confronted these older Asian immigrants; nevertheless, they created strategies to respond and positively influence their health following later-life migration.

Lonely ageing in a foreign land: Social isolation and loneliness among older Asian migrants in New Zealand.

Ageing does not reduce people's need to connect with family members, friends, and acquaintances, and neither does migration. For those older migrants living in a foreign land, connectedness with others plays a particularly important role in achieving a sense of belonging and sustaining their health and well-being. This paper explores the issues of social isolation and loneliness among older Asian migrants in New Zealand. Data were collected from in-depth semi-structured interviews with Chinese- or Korean-speaking migrants aged between 75 and 84years (n=10: all females), and from three focus groups consisting of Chinese- and Korean-speaking migrants (n=10: 7 females, 3 males) and Chinese professionals (n=5: 3 females, 2 males) between June 2016 and December 2016. The qualitative data obtained were analysed applying a thematic analysis approach using NVivo software for group analysis by a multidisciplinary research team. The findings from the study show that older Asian migrants experienced high levels of isolation and loneliness at least at some points in their migrant lives. Most participants in this study were living alone or with only their spouse, and this living arrangement was likely to provide fertile ground for isolation and loneliness to grow in the context of later-life migration. It was also observed that their lonely ageing ironically resulted from their efforts to preserve family relationships through avoiding being a burden, while allowing them a sort of space to maintain now barely connected lives. The participants revealed multiple ways of coping with lonely and isolated experiences in their limited social network, and these individual strategies allow us to make suggestions about how best to reduce older migrants' social isolation and loneliness in the New Zealand context and beyond.

Return Migration in Later Life in Mainland China: Motivations, Patterns, and Influences.

This study focuses on patterns and influences of return migration behavior in mainland China, (n = 468 individuals ages 50 and above) from a life-course perspective, using the 2011 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Utilizing spatial analysis, we found return migration geographic patterns mainly from the frontier and urban centers to central provinces, involving migrant workers returning to their rural homes. We used logistic linear modeling to examine the correlations between personal attributes (e.g., age, gender, marital status), environmental aspects (e.g., community characteristics, housing conditions, geographic attributes), and return migration. Historical and socioeconomic factors affected return migration, including availability parents to provide care, declining personal health, improved housing infrastructures, and better access to community services. Our findings also show the productive social role of caregiving as a reason for migration, calling for flexible policies in China's social welfare system, comprehensive senior living facilities, and adequate support systems in rural communities.

Is migration in later life good for wellbeing? A longitudinal study of ageing and selectivity of internal migration.

Migration scholarship has recently paid attention to lifecourse and non‐economic effects of moving house. Yet consideration of the effects of internal migration in later life has been relatively neglected despite their implications for social and spatial inequalities. Thus we address two questions: how trajectories of wellbeing in later life vary for movers and non‐movers, and how the event of moving affects wellbeing. In both cases we distinguish between “voluntary” and “involuntary” movers. We use 10 years (2002–2012) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) to analyse trends in wellbeing for age cohorts and to examine how wellbeing changes through the event of moving. The Control, Autonomy, Selfrealisation and Pleasure (CASP‐19) measure of wellbeing is used. We find that, after controls for demographic and socio‐economic characteristics, involuntary movers have lower levels of wellbeing than stayers or voluntary movers; and involuntary movers experience a stabilisation in the decline in wellbeing following migration which is not seen for voluntary movers. So, migration in later life is good for wellbeing, maintaining advantageous wellbeing trajectories for voluntary movers and improving wellbeing trajectories for involuntary movers. These findings imply a rich potential of ELSA and similar longitudinal datasets for examining residential mobility; the need for ageing inequalities studies to take more account of residential mobility; the need for internal migration scholarship to pay greater attention to reason for move; and for policy to consider the potentially beneficial effects of residential mobility in later life, particularly for those in adverse circumstances.

'Depression is not an illness. It's up to you to make yourself happy': Perceptions of Chinese health professionals and community workers about older Chinese immigrants' experiences of depression and anxiety.

The aim of this study was to improve our understanding of depression and anxiety among older immigrant Chinese Australians. The study was based on the National Ageing Research Institute's Cultural Exchange Model, an iterative process of exchange between researchers and stakeholders. The project involved a range of components including consultations with health professionals and community workers about perceptions of depression and anxiety within the Chinese community. This paper reports on these consultation findings. Thematic analysis generated five main categories to explain participants' perceptions of depression and anxiety within the Chinese community. Themes included: lack of knowledge; personal weakness rather than illness; stigma; somatisation; and experience of migration in later life. Responses to questions about education and information dissemination were collated separately and reported. Views of depression and anxiety among older Chinese people suggest that educating the community may be an important way to improve mental health literacy and help-seeking behaviour.

Does Second-Home Ownership Trigger Migration in Later Life?

As a result of the ongoing urbanization trend in many countries, most rural and peripheral areas are suffering from depopulation and out-migration. Nevertheless, some rural areas are experiencing a net in-flow of older migrants. One explanation mentioned is that people own second homes that are converted into permanent homes in later life. However, this description has rarely been tested empirically. Rather, it has been described as residual for migration into rural areas. Three hypotheses have been put forward in relation to second homes as a trigger for migration in later life. The first is that second-home owners are less inclined to move but utilize their second home more as a substitute for permanent amenity migration. The second is that owners are more likely to move as they have the opportunity to move permanently to their second home, while the third is that second-home owners would be more likely to downsize from their permanent home and make housing adjustments. This study attempts to answer the question if second-home ownership triggers migration in later life and if it is a matter of housing adjustment or converting a second home into a permanent home. This is performed by analysing microdata covering all individuals in Sweden in the 55–70-years age range in the 1999–2008 period. Results support the hypothesis that second-home ownership triggers migration in later life and, by so doing, imply that a life course perspective is valuable for our understanding of migration in later life and that not only permanent migration but also experiences of temporary mobility are relevant for migration biographies. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Return migration in later life: international perspectives

Return migration in later life: international perspectives

Dynamic control of β1 integrin adhesion by the plexinD1-sema3E axis

Plexins and semaphorins comprise a large family of receptor-ligand pairs controlling cell guidance in nervous, immune, and vascular systems. How plexin regulation of neurite outgrowth, lymphoid trafficking, and vascular endothelial cell branching is linked to integrin function, central to most directed movement, remains unclear. Here we show that on developing thymocytes, plexinD1 controls surface topology of nanometer-scaled β1 integrin adhesion domains in cis, whereas its ligation by sema3E in trans regulates individual β1 integrin catch bonds. Loss of plexinD1 expression reduces β1 integrin clustering, thereby diminishing avidity, whereas sema3E ligation shortens individual integrin bond lifetimes under force to reduce stability. Consequently, both decreased expression of plexinD1 during developmental progression and a thymic medulla-emanating sema3E gradient enhance thymocyte movement toward the medulla, thus enforcing the orchestrated lymphoid trafficking required for effective immune repertoire selection. Our results demonstrate plexin-tunable molecular features of integrin adhesion with broad implications for many cellular processes.

Linking tourism, retirement migration and social capital

A general trend in the study of international retirement migration has been the increased attention paid to the social contacts and network connections of the migrants in both the destination and the origin areas. These studies have examined the extent to which migrants build social relationships with their neighbours and the host society while also maintaining social links with their countries of origin, addressing the central role that leisure travel plays in sustaining increasingly dispersed social networks and maintaining the social capital of these networks and of the individuals involved in them. Using a case study approach to examine British retirement migration to Spain, we explore the relevance of transnational social networks in the context of international retirement migration, particularly the intensity of bidirectional visiting friends and relatives (VFR) tourism flows and the migrants’ social contacts with friends and/or family back in their home country. Building on the concept of social capital and Putnam's distinction between bonding and bridging social capital, we propose a framework for the analysis of the migrants’ international social networks. The results of a study conducted based on a sample of 365 British retirees living in the coast of Alicante (Spain) show both the strength of the retirees’ international bonding social capital and the role of ‘VFR's travel and communication technologies in sustaining the migrants’ transnational social practices and, ultimately, their international bonding social capital. It also provides evidence for the reinforcing links between tourism-related mobility and amenity-seeking migration in later life.

Take Me "Home": Return Migration among Germany's Older Immigrants.

This paper examines the determinants of return migration as foreign-born men approach old age in Germany. Return migration in later life engages a different set of conditions than return migration earlier on, including the framing of return as a possible retirement strategy. Using 23 years of longitudinal data from the German Socioeconomic Panel, this paper investigates how social and economic resources of immigrant men influence decisions to return "home." Results suggest that immigrants from former guest worker recruitment countries within the European Union are more likely to return than non-E.U. immigrants. In addition, return migrants are "negatively selected" such that those with the least education and weakest attachments to the labor force are more likely to emigrate. However, findings vary greatly depending on the immigrant's age and country of origin. Results from this paper highlight the heterogeneity of older immigrants and the factors that motivate their return "home."

Freedom Found? The Later-Life Transnational Migration of Japanese Women to Western Australia and Thailand

Despite being a relatively recent research topic, studies on transnational later-life retirement have noted the diversity of the phenomenon. This study of Japanese women in later-life moving to live in Western Australia and Thailand adds to the diversity by examining the gendered dimension of the phenomenon. Through an analysis of the dominant narrative of “seeking for freedom” in their motivation to leave Japan, the paper examines what are the expressions of freedom as perceived by the women and the challenges confronting them in later-life migration. Their subjective experiences reflect migration in later-life as a dynamic process, and later-life migration as more complex than mere classification of their motivations into amenity-seeking or otherwise.

The Chain is Only as Strong as the Weakest Link

Objectives: This research article tests Litwak and Longino’s first-move hypothesis by taking chain migration into account. Besides adding to the body of literature examining later-life migration and disability using large-scale and current data, my scholarly contribution is noteworthy because this analysis is among the handful which accounts for the influence of historical flows. Methods: Using the American Community Survey (ACS) from 2006 to 2007, the author employs multinomial logit (MNL) to test the likelihood of migrating within the state, outside the state, Florida, or Arizona based on mobility difficulty, personal care limitation, physical limitation, and cognitive difficulty. In addition, the author constructs chain migration variables from Census inflow–outflow tabulations and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) county-to-county migration files. Results: The descriptive statistics and MNL estimates show the probability of migration is greater for individuals with fewer disabilities (i.e., better health), even after controlling for long-standing patterns of established inflows. More specifically, migration to Florida is greater for those without physical limitations and cognitive difficulties, married, with greater income, and higher education levels. Interestingly, the author discovers migration to Florida remains high despite disability status, if and only if the individual comes from an area of chain migration. Discussion: Given the first wave of the baby boom generation having reached retirement age in 2011 and a steady increase in these numbers for the upcoming few decades, examining this group’s geographic mobility serves a practical purpose for economic growth. Several independent studies show migrating retirees boost local businesses and provide increased sales tax revenue. However, states must balance this financial gain with increased use of health services, roadways, and community resources.