Retirement Migration in Europe: A Choice for a Better Life?

Abstract

This article examines the impact of economic inequalities on the individual choices that North European retirees make when they migrate to Mediterranean countries. It considers a group of retired and early-retired migrants who live permanently in Spain and have limited economic resources. Through a qualitative methodology based on semi-structured interviews with retirement migrants as well as ethnographic observations and spontaneous conversations in the study site, we provide new sociological knowledge about the relations between retirement migration and the unequal risks of social exclusion that retirees must manage in Northern Europe. We find that for many of these migrants, moving represents a way of managing economic risks in retirement, improving their financial situation and status. At the same time, however, it introduces new vulnerabilities. The latter are all the more visible when unexpected political changes occur, such as the recent decision that the UK would leave the European Union (Brexit).

Retirement migration and transnational grandparental support: a Spanish case study

“…The data were collected between August 2016 and March 2017 in two areas of Spain, both popular destinations for retirees from EU countries (Pérez and Medina 2004;Zasada et al 2010: 126). The larger study explored the relationship between economic resources and migration experiences, the results of which have been discussed elsewhere (Repetti et al 2018) and issues of intergenerational support in a retirement context. The focus of our research started from the moment people made their decision to move -a process that might last months or even years, but that became concrete at a certain point -and ended with the interview.…”

“…The sample is homogeneous in terms of the types of places in which the interviewees lived -two Spanish retirement communities. As mentioned elsewhere (Repetti 2018), our participants had limited resources and had moved to Spain to maintain or improve their standard of living. Six individuals, faced with labour market insecurities, had taken early retirement and subsequently moved to Spain.…”

“…Six individuals, faced with labour market insecurities, had taken early retirement and subsequently moved to Spain. Others retired when they were eligible for their state and private pensions, moving to Spain to deal with the economic risks they faced in their home country (Repetti 2018). All had grandchildren -26 in the country they had left behind and 2 in a third country -ranging in age from newborn to young adult; in cases where grandchildren were yet to be born, their potential role as grandparents had been considered explicitly.…”

“…This type of retirement migration raises the question of how people deal with family support transnationally, while trying to improve their quality of life, particularly when they are trying to escape economic insecurity (Repetti et al 2018). This group stands apart from those who move to join their families in new countries, which is interesting in the context of evidence that, in the Global North, retirees are increasingly being called upon to provide family support, particularly in caring for grandchildren (Attias-Donfut 2008;Glaser et al 2018;Timonen and Arber 2012).…”

“…Here, we present a case study of British and Swiss retirement migrants who live permanently in Spain and whose decision to migrate was related to a search for greater economic security (Repetti et al 2018). Our aim is to understand the extent to which such retirement migrants articulate their role of grandparental support -by which we mean childcare, keeping in touch with kin, and economic support -with their decision to move away from their grandchildren.…”