Differences in Subjective Well-being Between Older Migrants and Natives in Europe

Abstract

This study examines disparities in subjective well-being (SWB) among older migrants and natives across several European countries using data from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Our results show a significant SWB gap between migrants and non-migrants that diminishes with increasing age. While migrants from Northern and Central Europe have similar SWB levels as natives, Southern European, Eastern European, and Non-European migrants have significantly lower levels of SWB than the native population. The immigrant-native gap becomes smaller but remains significant after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and health, the financial situation, citizenship, age at migration, and length of residence. Additionally, we find that the size of the SWB gap varies largely across countries. Current family reunion policies as measured by the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) correlate with these country differences. The immigrant-native gap is bigger in countries with restrictive and smaller in countries with open policies.

The Effect of Length of Residence and Geographical Origin on the Social Inclusion of Immigrants

“…Thus, it is relevant to study resilience in the immigrant population, because resilient individuals have a greater capacity for integration in the host community (Barba, 2012). The life satisfaction of immigrants is another dimension that is strongly related to social inclusion (Sand & Gruber, 2018). Within the contextual dimension, social support is considered to be an interactive concept.…”

“…Among other factors, subjective well-being is fundamental to social inclusion and is typically measured using SWL in the setting in which migrants reside (Sand & Gruber, 2018). Contradictory results have been obtained regarding the association between length of residence and SWL of immigrants.…”

Health of migrant care-givers across Europe: what is the role of origin and welfare state context?

“…Until now, most evidence on care-giving and health has dealt with health outcomes of care-giving irrespective of the individual background. However, health outcomes of care-giving could be different for migrants due to differences compared to the majority population in health, social support, education, financial status and cultural values (Koopmans, 2009; Bordone and de Valk, 2016; Sand and Gruber, 2018). Previous evidence from the USA suggests that ethnic minority care-givers experience worse physical health than mental health problems (Pinquart and Sörensen, 2005).…”

“…This could limit their possibilities to make use of other formal sources of help to lower their physical care-giving burden. Additionally, migrant care-givers and care recipients are expected to already have health difficulties as previous results suggest that elderly migrants are in worse health (Solé-Auró and Crimmins, 2008; Aichberger et al , 2010; Lanari et al , 2015), have a lower wellbeing (Sand and Gruber, 2018) and make use of health-care services more often (Solé-Auró et al , 2012), which contradicts a persistent ‘healthy migrant effect’ ( e.g. Fennelly, 2007).…”

Intergenerational and interethnic mental health: An analysis for the United Kingdom

“…Hatzenbuehler et al () examine the mental health impact of the overall policy climate for Latinos in the United States, suggesting that restrictive immigration policies may be detrimental to the mental health of Latinos in the United States. In a similar vein, Sand and Gruber () examine disparities in subjective well‐being among older migrants and natives across several European countries and find that the immigrant‐native gap is bigger in countries with restrictive policies and smaller in countries with open policies.…”