Between here and there: comparing the worry about the pandemic between older Italian international migrants and natives in Switzerland

Abstract

Since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, people have been worried about COVID-19. As one of the risk groups, persons aged 65 and older are especially vulnerable. Additionally, minorities and migrants are hit harder by the pandemic than natives. Using data from the TransAge survey, a study including over 3000 older persons (65+) living in Switzerland and Italy, we show that the levels of worry about the pandemic are significantly higher among Italian international migrants living in Switzerland than among Swiss natives. We are not able to fully explain the difference using sociodemographic variables, the COVID-19 situation at the time of the interview, and international migrants’ transnationalism behavior. Nevertheless, transnationalism explains a large part of the difference in worry between the two groups and our study sheds light on the importance of two specific transnational aspects, having Swiss nationality and voting behavior, for the prevention of elevated levels of worry of international migrants.

Older adults' experiences of wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic: a comparative qualitative study in Italy and Switzerland

“…The pandemic restrictions changed some of these transnational practices through travel bans and border closures (Nehring and Hu, 2022 ), which may influence older migrants' wellbeing. A survey conducted within the same research project as this paper, found that Italian migrants in Switzerland reported higher levels of worry about the COVID-19 pandemic than Swiss natives, and this difference is largely explained by engagement in transnational practices (Ludwig-Dehm et al, 2023 ).…”

“…Although participants did not mention their attachment to Italy when recounting their pandemic experiences, some did share the negative impact the Italian situation had on their wellbeing. Previous research stemming from the TransAge project has revealed that greater attachment to Italy correlates to greater worry about the COVID-19 pandemic (Ludwig-Dehm et al, 2023 ), which may have thereby impacted Italian migrants' lived experiences. Similarly, we found one case of transnational attachment among Swiss natives.…”

“…Nonetheless, the ability to cope with the stressors brought about by the pandemic was influenced by factors on the micro-, meso-, and macro- levels. On the micro-level, studies have revealed that characteristics like being in good health, previous experiences of adversity, stable financial status, and social networks positively affected individuals' ability to cope with the pandemic (Guzman et al, 2023 ), while having a migration background was associated with increased pandemic-related worry (Ludwig-Dehm et al, 2023 ) and loneliness (Pan et al, 2021 ). At the meso-level, neighborhood parks and nature were positively related to mental and physical health (Bustamante et al, 2022 ; Guzman et al, 2023 ).…”

“…Furthermore, comparing Swiss natives and Italian migrants allows us to analyze the experiences of two groups who lived the pandemic in the same context, yet who have had different life courses. More particularly, because older Italian migrants in Switzerland often have attachments to Italy and take part in transnational practices (Ludwig-Dehm et al, 2023 ), their inclusion in the study allows us to explore how the situation in their country of origin impacted their COVID-19 experiences from abroad.…”

Life Satisfaction Among Italian Migrants, Italian Stayers, and Swiss Natives: Who Fares Better?

“…For the sample residing in Italy, data for this variable come from offi cial data from the Italian Department of Civil Protection and is published daily. For the sample residing in Switzerland, the data come from the Swiss Federal Offi ce of Public Health (Ludwig-Dehm et al 2023). These two COVID-19 variables are not shown in the fi nal regression models due to their non-signifi cance, but we deem it important to specify that we controlled for them, considering the period when the survey was conducted.…”