IV ISA Forum of Sociology (February 23-28, 2021)

381

Older Migrants: Transnational Ageing, Expectations of Ageing and Care and Social Support

Abstract Submissions Closed

RC31 Sociology of Migration (host committee)

Language: English

Session Type: Oral

More and more people are living transnational lives as a result of migration. Simultaneously, population ageing has become a global phenomenon. Countries of immigration in the Global North are especially experiencing a growing ageing population alongside an ageing migrant population and have to adapt their care systems to the growing diversity. Many older migrants maintain ties with friends and kin in their countries of origin and lead transnational lives that are impacted by migration policy. Simultaneously, they have to cope with the aged care system in their country of settlement, which may be different from their homeland and may not reflect their expectations of ageing and wellbeing. In addition, living geographically distant from their kin and due to changing family obligations, more elderly migrants rely on aged care services in the country of immigration. This session seeks to explore how the experience of ageing is affected by the transnationalization of social life worlds. It seeks to explore the experience of (transnational) ageing of older migrants. How do older migrants cope with the aged care system in their country of settlement? How is the local and distant/transnational social support network of older migrants structured? To which extent and how do older migrants engage in transnational ‘care circulation’? What are the possibilities of transnational care and where is geographical distance an obstacle? This session seeks to bring together empirical papers that address these questions and develop a critical understanding of the intersections of ageing, migration and transnational social support in current times.