Migration processes and the underlying reasons: A study on pensioner migrants in Poland

Abstract

Although population ageing is progressing, seniors migrate with increasing frequency. This paper explores the question why Polish pensioners decide to migrate, as existing research has not provided satisfactory explanations. Reasons for migrations were determined on the basis of pensioners' answers to a questionnaire survey. The results show that migration decisions are taken for a number of reasons, which depend, inter alia, on the respondents' education level, age, and sex. For women as well as for men, the economic aspect plays a crucial role (e.g., building or buying a new house). Ward's method was employed to distinguish five main migration types according to the main motivating factor; that is, family and finance, family, environmental, economic, and health. An analysis of internal as well as external migrations of Polish seniors shows that they differ considerably from migrations of seniors in other countries. Due to their unsatisfactory finances as well as deficits in knowledge of foreign languages, Polish pensioners, unlike their peers in other countries, rarely decide to settle down abroad. The Polish model of multigenerational family in which seniors assist their children in raising their grandchildren also contributes to lower emigration.

Internal and external migrations of pensioners in Poland: A directional typology

“…International migrations of Polish pensioners and migrations in big cities have been studied in the context of this age group, first of all, by Kału_ za (2006,2007,2008), Kału_ za-Kopias (2012, 2013, Kurek (2006Kurek ( , 2011Kurek ( , 2014, and Walford and Kurek (2008). The reasons for migrations of seniors have been indicated recently in studies authored by Pytel and Rahmonov (2019), Pytel (2017), Jankowski and Pytel (2013), and Kału_ za and Dami nska (2004,2006).…”

Dynamic Villages in the Hinterland of a Polycentric Region: Case Study of the Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska Metropolis in Poland

“…The research of Pytel [63,64] confirms the attractiveness of rural areas in Poland in the hinterland of large agglomerations also for retirees who contribute to the growth of jobs. It is also seen in different countries.…”

Role of Advanced Producer Services Shaping Globalization Processes in a Post-Industrial Region: The Case of the Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska Metropolis

“…By the late 1990s, the restructuring of the region's economy, its largely outdated industrial base, industrial, and mining monoculture as well as environmental degradation and strong air pollution had become liabilities to the extent that the entire region was now considered a problem area [50]. It was affected by a variety of problems such as an outdated employment structure [57] as well as social problems [58][59][60][61] and depopulation [47]. The economic transformation of the region was made difficult by a polycentric system of independent urban counties governed via a variety of different management strategies.…”