Who is aging out of place? The role of migrant selectivity in international retirement migration

Abstract

International retirement migration gained popularity with the rise of globalisation and individualisation, but little is known about whom the retirement migrants are compared to retirees who do not migrate. To gain insight into who migrates compared to who stays, we examine a broad set of individual determinants. We collected data for the survey of Dutch Retirement Migrants Abroad, a new dataset based on a probability sample of Dutch nationals with an oversample of retirement migrants (ages 66–90). The survey includes 5225 migrants who migrated from the Netherlands and permanently reside in one of forty different destination countries and 1339 Dutch retirees who reside in the Netherlands. Using discrete-time event-history models, we test the effect of socioeconomic status, social ties, personality traits, and cultural values on the likelihood of migration. Having a partner and a higher occupational status raised the likelihood of migration. Additionally, retirement migrants were more likely to be adventurous, postmaterialist, and identify with counterculture of the sixties, such as being involved in the hippie culture, than non-migrants. Having more social ties in the Netherlands decreased the likelihood of migration. This study highlights the complex interplay of determinants influencing who migrates at older ages and who stays.