Intersections between Ageing and Migration: Current Trends and Challenges

Abstract

Migration and ageing are two of the main contemporary phenomena challenging modern societies. Although at a first glance they appear to be separate dynamics, there are multiple intersections between the demographic aging of the population and the increasing number of people migrating. Such intersections may be identified in the context of Western European societies, where demographic ageing is partially attenuated by increasing migration. The shortage of social and health care workforce furthermore leads to an increase in migrants being employed in care services for the older population. The migrant population itself is ageing, particularly visible among former “guest-workers” of the post-WW2 period, facing challenges associated to restricted welfare benefits, health disparities and specific age-related needs. Moreover, the predominant policy and research focus on migration as a pheno menon mostly occurring among younger, healthy individuals does not adequately grasp the layers of migration and patterns of mobility over the life course. People of advanced age are moving as well. Such late-in-life migrants engage in mobility for different reasons, be it to live a secure or more comfortable life, to work and send remittances back home, to provide or receive family-related care or to have access to welfare benefits or affordable care services. The objective of the special issue is to