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Older migrants ,
Research report 18 aims to sum up the state of the research on older migrants and to illustrate statistical data and empirical findings dealing with various aspects of quality of life in old age. It provides an overview of the results covered by age and migration research. This spans a wide field in order to cover the central areas of the circumstances in which older migrants find themselves.
The differences between older migrants
Older people with a migration background living in Germany are a heterogeneous population group. The differences relate not only to migrants' geographical, ethnic and cultural origin. They also migrated to Germany for different reasons and at different times.
The labour market situation
Older migrants have a much worse position on the labour market than natives of the same age. For instance, migrants are less frequently in work and are less likely to be in employment with obligatory social insurance. This affects women in particular. Their inferior position on the labour market is reflected in their professional status and in the sectors of industry in which they work. Migrants are also more likely to be in marginal part-time work.
Retirement and old-age pensions
The findings on retirement and old-age pensions indicate that migrants face greater difficulties when it comes to financial security in old age than persons who do not have a migration background. As a result of their lower level of qualifications and their less favourable position on the labour market, migrants’ household incomes are lower than those of natives. Despite migrants frequently having longer periods of employment, their lower income from employment, less frequent full-time employment and longer periods of unemployment lead to them having smaller pensions and fewer assets.
The health situation
People with a migration background have greater health risks in comparison with the majority population. It is however not migration per se which makes people ill, but the reasons and circumstances surrounding migration, as well as the living and working conditions in the host country, which may lead to a poorer state of health.
Report drafted by: Peter Schimany, Stefan Rühl and Martin Kohls
The report is only available in German.