The Study of Ageing in Migration Studies and Social Gerontology

ABSTRACT

Ageing of the population and international migration are perceived by researchers and population experts as crucial to the changes in population composition that have occurred in Europe in the last few decades. Although it is expected that the number of older migrants will continue to rise in the future, until recently, the interactions between ageing and migration have rarely been a focus of research. The article focuses on two main groups of older migrants: older people who migrate and migrants, who have aged in the country they have immigrated into. It presents the main challenges pertaining to the formation and implementation of migration and social policy targeting older migrants and argues against their essensialisation.

KEY WORDS: ageing, migration, older people, retirement migration, return migration