Scientific article
OA Policy
English

Life in limbo: old-age transnationalism

Published inThe Gerontologist, vol. 60, no. 2, p. 322-330
Publication date2020
Abstract

Background and Objectives: Transnationalism, defined as migrants having ties to the country of origin and the destination country, is mostly explored with qualitative data. Quantitative studies only use a small number of indicators. This is one of only a few studies to examine transnationalism based on multiple indicators and elaborate classes of transnationalism. The research questions are: What are the forms of transnationalism in which older migrants engage? And how do age, gender, income, and country of origin affect these forms? Research Design and Methods: The paper used the Vivre/Leben/Vivere (2011/2012) subsample of migrants in Switzerland, aged 65–82 years. Transnationalism was measured using 11 indicators, including nationality, having family abroad, and sending remittances. Latent class analysis was used to distinguish between several forms of transnationalism. Latent class regression models subsequently explore the effect of age, gender, income and country of origin on these transnationalism forms. Results: Four different forms of transnationalism were found among older migrants: least transnational, distant transnational, active transnational, and returning transnational. The models suggest that country of origin and income are important predictors, while age is less important and gender has no effect on falling in these transnationalism classes. Discussion and Implications: The results confirm that our measure of transnationalism is an innovative approach toward exploring the different forms older migrants engage in. The method has several advantages over usual methods and can be used in future studies to analyze, for example, how different forms of transnationalism emerge as a consequence of policies relevant for older migrants, like care arrangements and pensions.

Keywords
  • Forms of transnationalism
  • Older migrants
  • Immigrants
  • Diversity and ethnicity
  • Latent class analysis
Citation (ISO format)
CIOBANU, Ruxandra Oana, LUDWIG-DEHM, Sarah Marie. Life in limbo: old-age transnationalism. In: The Gerontologist, 2020, vol. 60, n° 2, p. 322–330. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnz166
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Article (Published version)
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Identifiers
Journal ISSN0016-9013
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