Seeking Care in the Neighboring Country: An Institutional Analysis of Transnational Care for Older People Between Slovenia and Croatia

Using the concepts of care gap, transnationalization of care, and retirement migration—and based on interviews with stakeholders and an institutional analysis of care provision for older people in Slovenia and Croatia—the article examines retirement care migration between the two countries. It shows that the marketization of care in Croatia matches the care gap in public provision in Slovenia, which establishes “precarious hybrid transnational care.” Older people use two strategies—citizenship rights and the market—to access cheaper residential care across the border, though of lower quality than in Slovenia. The study shows that transnational care can arise out of specific national institutional configurations of care.
Keywords: care for older people, care gap, transnationalization of care, retirement migration, hybrid transnational care