International retirement migration revisited: From amenity seeking to precarity migration?

Abstract

International retirement migration has become a multifaceted field of research since the end of the twentieth century. The term refers to mobilities in old age to other countries, upon reaching retirement age. It can be unior bidirectional, permanent or temporary (Braun & Recchi, 2008; Schneider, 2010). The findings of previous research on international retirement migration have repeatedly pointed out that it is mainly “amenity-seeking migrants” or “lifestyle migrants” who choose this option upon retirement. Seeking a better quality of life, older people from richer countries relocate to other countries with more pleasant climatic conditions, attractive landscapes and a wide range of recreational activities (Nokielski, 2005). In the past 20 years, many studies have shown that it is often people with an above-average level of income who opt for international retirement migration, often as couples (Gibler, Casado-Díaz, Casado-Díaz, Rodríguez, & Taltavull, 2009; Kaiser, 2011). They are described as “affluent individuals migrating in search of a better way of life” (Benson & O’Reilly, 2009, p. 609). Research has paid particular attention to the migration of older people from Northern and Central European countries to the Mediterranean region, in particular to Spain (Breuer, 2005; Buchta, 2009; Gustafson, 2008; Huber & O'Reilly, 2004; Kaiser, 2011; O’Reilly, 2000). More recently, a new development has been emerging in international retirement migration. Countries that make up the “global South” are increasingly becoming preferred destinations, including countries located in Southeast Asia (Toyota & Xiang, 2012), South America (Dixon, Murray, & Gelatt, 2006; Hayes, 2014, 2015) and Africa (Chege, 2014). An increasing number of countries, especially in Southeast Asia (for example, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines) and in Latin America (for instance Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Mexico), have established government programs to promote retirement migration, for example by facilitating visa or residence permits for older people from abroad or by offering tax and price benefits. Apart from some isolated studies, these countries have played a marginal role in retirement migration research to date. Based on our research on international retirement migration of older German-speaking people from European countries, notably from Germany and Switzerland, to Thailand, we show that there are strong empirical indications that, rather than a search for a better lifestyle, these more recent migration processes are often motivated by social and financial problems, along with constraints in the countries of origin, and the older people’s hope to solve or alleviate those problems. Isolated studies confirm this result (see below). Our research, which