Social Participation and Well-being of Older Migrants: An assessment in Old Immigration Countries in Europe

This study aims to gain a better understanding on how the migration experience and socio-demographics operate on social participation and well-being of senior migrants (aged 50+) in eight ‘old’ immigration countries in Europe (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland). We first examine the effect of country and individual level characteristics in explaining differences in social participation and well-being among foreign-born and natives separately. Secondly, we analyze the role of nativity and the effects of period of migration and age at migration (time and timing) on the social participation and well-being of the foreign-born group compared to natives. Data from the first wave (2004) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement (SHARE) are used for these analyses. Our findings demonstrate that older migrants have a higher risk of experience ill-being as well as lower social participation compared to natives. Individual characteristics such as education, income, age and time of migration appear to be powerful predictors of social participation and well-being. The analysis supports the core assumption of the activity theory of ageing, showing that being engaged in one or more forms of social participation positively contributes towards higher levels of well-being and vice versa.