Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-8mjnm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-29T04:57:16.167Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Exploring older women's citizenship: understanding the impact of migration in later life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 August 2009

JOANNE COOK*
Affiliation:
The Management School, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK.
*
Address for correspondence: Joanne Cook, Management School, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK. E-mail: j.m.cook@stir.ac.uk

Abstract

Research on the ways in which having been an international migrant in later life shapes the welfare needs, preferences and expectations of non-native older people in rich countries is in its infancy, for both the ageing and migration fields have been slow to examine the experiences of older migrants. This paper focuses upon the welfare citizenship experiences of older women who migrated in later life to England, either as refugees or as post-retirement migrants. It reports findings from interviews and focus groups conducted with black Caribbean, Irish, Chinese and Somali older women migrants in Sheffield, Yorkshire, UK, as part of the Older Women's Lives and Voices Study. The paper explores their experiences of accessing welfare citizenship and the barriers they encountered in accessing mainstream services. In particular, it examines the unequal platform from which older migrants who do not speak English access welfare citizenship rights and services, and assesses the important constraints of discrimination and language differences. Despite the obstacles, the older women participants were actively pursuing their inclusion in welfare rights and services. The paper argues for more recognition of the important enabling role that informal systems of support provided by participation in community or cultural organisations plays in the welfare citizenship and agency of minority ethnic older women.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ackers, L. and Dwyer, P. 2004. Fixed lives, fluid flaws: the citizenship status of post-retirement migrants in the European Union. Ageing & Society, 24, 3, 451–75.Google Scholar
Ajrouch, K. J. 2005. Arab-American immigrant elders' views about social support. Ageing & Society, 25, 5655–73.Google Scholar
Arber, S. and Ginn, J. 1995. Connecting Gender and Ageing: A Sociological Approach. Open University Press, Buckingham, UK.Google Scholar
Bajekal, M., Blane, D., Grewal, I., Karlsen, S. and Nazroo, J. 2004. Ethnic differences in influences on quality of life at older ages: a quantitative analysis. Ageing & Society, 24, 5, 709–28.Google Scholar
Barbalet, J. M. 1988. Citizenship. Open University Press, Buckingham, UK.Google Scholar
Bernard, M., Phillips, J., Machin, L. and Harding Davis, V. 2000. Women Ageing: Changing Identities, Changing Myths. Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Blackmore, K. and Boneham, M. 1994. Age, Race and Ethnicity: A Comparative Approach. Open University Press, Buckingham, UK.Google Scholar
Bloch, A. 2006. Emigration from Zimbabwe: migrant perspectives. Social Policy and Administration, 40, 1, 6787.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burholt, V. 2004. The settlement patterns and residential histories of older Gujaratis, Punjabis and Sylhetis in Birmingham, England. Ageing & Society, 24, 3, 383409.Google Scholar
Butt, J. and Mirza, K. 1996. Social Care and Black Communities: A Review of Recent Research Studies. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Butt, J. and Moriarty, J. 2004. Social support and ethnicity in old age. In Walker, A. and Hagan Hennessy, C. (eds), Growing Older: Quality of Life in Old Age. Open University Press, Maidenhead, UK, 167–87.Google Scholar
Chiu, S. and Yu, S. 2001. An excess of culture: the myth of shared care in the Chinese community in Britain. Ageing & Society, 21, 6, 681–99.Google Scholar
Cook, J., Maltby, T. and Warren, L. 2004. A participatory approach to older women's quality of life. In Walker, A. and Hagan Hennessy, C. (eds), Growing Older: Quality of Life in Old Age. Open University Press, Maidenhead, UK, 149–66.Google Scholar
Dwyer, P. 2000. Welfare Rights and Responsibilities: Contesting Social Citizenship. Policy, Bristol, UK.Google Scholar
Dwyer, P. and Papadimitriou, D. 2006. The social security rights of older international migrants in the European Union. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 32, 8, 1301–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Godfrey, M., Townsend, J. and Denby, T. 2004. Building a Good Life for Older People in Local Communities. Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York, UK.Google Scholar
Grewal, I., Nazroo, J., Bajekal, M., Blane, D. and Lewis, J. 2004. Influences on quality of life: a qualitative investigation of ethnic differences among older people in England. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 30, 4, 737–61.Google Scholar
Harrison, M. L. 1995. Housing, ‘Race’, Social Policy and Empowerment. Avebury, Aldershot, UK.Google Scholar
Institute for Public Policy Research 2007. Reception and Integration of New Migrant Communities. Commission for Racial Equality, London.Google Scholar
King, R. and Vullnetari, J. 2006. Orphan pensioners and migrating grandparents: the impact of mass migration on older people in rural Albania. Ageing & Society, 26, 5, 783816.Google Scholar
Kofman, E., Phizacklea, A., Raghuram, P. and Sales, R. 2000. Gender and International Migration in Europe. Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Lewis, J. 1997. Gender and welfare regimes: further thoughts. Social Politics, 4, 2, 160–77.Google Scholar
Lister, R. 1997. Citizenship: Feminist Perspectives. Macmillan, Basingstoke, UK.Google Scholar
Marshall, T. H. 1950. Citizenship and Social Class. Pluto, London.Google Scholar
Maynard, M., Afshar, H., Franks, M. and Wray, S. 2008. Women in Later Life: Exploring Race and Ethnicity. Open University Press, Maidenhead, UK.Google Scholar
Moriarty, J. and Butt, J. 2004. Inequalities in quality of life among older people from different ethnic groups. Ageing & Society, 24, 5, 729–53.Google Scholar
Nazroo, J., Bajekal, M., Blane, D. and Grewal, I. 2004. Ethnic inequalities. In Walker, A. and Hagan Hennessy, C. (eds), Growing Older: Quality of Life in Old Age. Open University Press, Maidenhead, UK, 3559.Google Scholar
Orloff, A. S. 1993. Gender and the social rights of citizenship: the comparative analysis of gender relations and welfare states. American Sociological Review, 58, 4, 303–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pateman, C. 1988. The Sexual Contract. Polity, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Phillipson, C., Bernard, M., Phillips, J. and Ogg, J. 1998. The family and community life of older people: household composition and social networks in three urban areas. Ageing & Society, 18, 3, 259–89.Google Scholar
Schierup, C. U., Hansen, P. and Castles, S. 2006. Migration, Citizenship, and the European Welfare State. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Seddon, D., Fitzpatrick, P. and Chatwin, M. 2002. Migration and Social Security Handbook. Child Poverty Action Group, London.Google Scholar
Silvey, R. 2004. Power, difference and mobility: feminist advances in migration studies. Progress in Human Geography, 28, 4, 490506.Google Scholar
Sporton, D. and Valentine, G. 2008. Identities on the Move: The Integration Experiences of Somali Refugee and Asylum Seeker Young People. End of project report, Social Science Institute, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK. Available online at http://www.lssi.leeds.ac.uk/projects/10 [Accessed 9 April 2009].Google Scholar
Torres, S. 2006. Elderly immigrants in Sweden: ‘otherness’ under construction. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 32, 8, 1341–58.Google Scholar
Vertovec, S. 2001. Transnationalism and identity. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 27, 4, 573–82.Google Scholar
Walby, S. 1986. Patriarchy at Work. Polity, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Walby, S. 1997. Gender Transformations. Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Warren, L. and Cook, J. 2005. Working with older women in research: benefits and challenges of involvement. In Lowes, L. and Hullatt, I. (eds), Service Users' Involvement in Health and Social Care Research. Routledge, London, 171–90.Google Scholar
Warren, L., Cook, J., Clarke, N., Hadfield, P., Haywood-Reed, P., Millen, L., Parkinson, M., Robinson, J. and Winfield, W. 2003. Working with older women in research: some methods-based issues. Quality in Ageing, 4, 4, 2431.Google Scholar
Warnes, A. M., Freidrich, K., Kellaher, L. and Torres, S. 2004. The diversity and welfare of older migrants in Europe. Ageing and Society, 24, 3, 307–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warnes, A. M. and Williams, A. 2006. Older migrants in Europe: a new focus for migration studies. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 32, 8, 1257–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wenger, C. 1997. Review of findings on support networks of older Europeans. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology, 12, 1, 121.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilson, K. and Peters, E. J. 2005. ‘You can make a place for it’: remapping urban First Nations' spaces of identity. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 23, 3, 395413.Google Scholar
Wray, S. 2004. What constitutes agency and empowerment for women in later life? Sociological Review, 52, 1, 2234.Google Scholar
Yuval-Davis, N. 1997. Gender and Nation. Sage, London.Google Scholar