Aging and Elder Care

Abstract

Chapter 5 examines the ways older people’s rights to protections are transformed under the circumstances of transnational migration. This chapter highlights four groups at the intersection of aging, transnational migration, and social protection: (1) international retirement migrants, (2) parents whose children emigrate abroad, (3) older immigrants who return to their countries of origin, and (4) migrant elder care workers. Differences across these groups underscore the stratified nature of resource environments for the elderly and their families. While some seniors are able to create plentiful resource environments, the exchange of people, money, services, and information between societies also creates new dilemmas and controversies. As states redefine social and legal citizenship—and, by so doing, extend, block, regulate, and outsource social protections for noncitizens and residents—market actors emerge as important purveyors of services for those who can afford them. Market-based care, however, leaves behind those who lack resources and exacerbates already stark inequalities. Among the most vulnerable are elder care workers themselves.