A retirement mobilities approach to transnational ageing

Abstract

Transnational ageing processes are usually studied by focusing on the various cross-border practices and mobilities of different categories of ageing migrants. This paper introduces a retirement mobilities approach as an analytical framework that draws on both transnational studies and the new mobilities paradigm to widen the theoretical and empirical debates. It argues that both migrant and non-migrant populations, as well as human and non-human cross-border circulations, have to be taken into account when studying transnational ageing. Based on a mixed-methods study combining original data from a quantitative survey conducted in Switzerland with residents 55+ and semi-structured interviews held in Spain and Switzerland with older adults receiving a Swiss pension, we demonstrate the heuristic value of this approach. Indeed, empirical findings indicate that older adults with and without a migration background represent an internationally mobile population with similar mobility aspirations and transnational lifestyles. However, the motivations driving these two groups’ transnational mobility differ significantly. Moreover, transnational circulations of financial resources, and in particular retirement pensions, are interlinked with mobility in old age. To conclude, a retirement mobilities approach sets a new research agenda, inviting scholars to examine transnational ageing beyond the ageing-migration nexus.