Population ageing and international migration

Author(s):  
Sandra Torres

This chapter aims to introduce ethnicity scholars to the societal challenge that is population aging, and social gerontologists to the challenges posed by the globalisation of international migration, and bytransnationalism. As such, this chapter aims to give the audiences that this book addresses a common ground from which future dialogues can be set in motion. It is, after all, these societal challenges that are at the core of the growing interest on the intersection of ethnicity/ race and ageing/ old age. This chapter argues also that one of the reasons why we should engage in the imaginative phase of discovery that theorising entails is that greater diversity can now be found in the older segments of our population and the scholarship in focus in this book needs to become more ethnicity/ race-astute.

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 331-349
Author(s):  
Sandra Torres

AbstractPopulation aging and international migration have propelled the aging of ethno-cultural minorities to the forefront of social scientific inquiries. Examining how scholarship on old age makes sense of ethnicity and race has become relevant. Based on a scoping review of peer-reviewed articles published between 1998 and 2017 (n = 336), the present article asks whether the notions of racialization and racism inform this scholarship and argues that a racism-sensitive research agenda is needed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-143
Author(s):  
Julie Boyles

An ethnographic case study approach to understanding women’s actions and reactions to husbands’ emigration—or potential emigration—offers a distinct set of challenges to a U.S.-based researcher.  International migration research in a foreign context likely offers challenges in language, culture, lifestyle, as well as potential gender norm impediments. A mixed methods approach contributed to successfully overcoming barriers through an array of research methods, strategies, and tactics, as well as practicing flexibility in data gathering methods. Even this researcher’s influence on the research was minimized and alleviated, to a degree, through ascertaining common ground with many of the women. Research with the women of San Juan Guelavía, Oaxaca, Mexico offered numerous and constant challenges, each overcome with ensuing rewards.


Author(s):  
Pierre Pestieau ◽  
Mathieu Lefebvre

This chapter gives an overview of the type of pension system existing in Europe. Contributive and redistributive systems are opposed but the chapter shows that pension systems are more often a mix of both. The chapter shows how these systems have been more or less effective in tackling old age poverty in most countries and it points to the main challenges that these systems are facing, namely population ageing and low labour-force participation. The major reforms that have been implemented to ensure future sustainability of pension systems are presented but a number of additional changes that should be implemented are discussed. The chapter also presents projections for future outcomes and the link between demographic challenges and social security benefits is highlighted.


Author(s):  
Courtney Rogers ◽  
Rupa S. Valdez ◽  
Juan E. Gilbert ◽  
Karen Lange Morales ◽  
Wendy Rogers ◽  
...  

There is an increasing need and interest for Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) professionals to apply our discipline to a larger context. HFE researchers are starting to conduct research outside of traditional settings, focusing their efforts on complex societal challenges; however, this type of work is still in its infancy and there is a need to define how HFE can be used in broader contexts, outside of formal institutions. In this panel, we begin a formalized conversation of how our field can scale its impact. Each panelist will introduce a societal challenge they are addressing and discuss how HFE can be adapted to this context. The topics of this panel will span elections technology, sustainability and climate change, universal access to mental healthcare, social isolation in older adults, and food insecurity. This session will conclude with a moderated discussion between the panelists and audience to brainstorm specific societal challenges that HFE can address as well as how methods can be adapted to this context.


ARGOMENTI ◽  
2009 ◽  
pp. 31-58
Author(s):  
Marco Accorinti ◽  
Paolo Calza Bini

- Within the research project Overcoming the barriers and seizing the opportunities for Active Ageing Policies in Europe, the Italian part being carried out by the IRPPS-CNR, there has been an in-depth study of the dynamics regarding population ageing and the social security system in Italy, in the light of the notion of activation - one of the main inspiring criteria of the European Employment Strategy. The paper presents comparative European research work that has highlighted the need to deal with the old age - social security link through an integrated group of diversified policies that consider above all employment policies, life schedules and social protection. The text furthermore presents nine European experiments of gradual retirement.Keywords: Senior citizen workers, Social security, Welfare, Leave. Parole Chiave: Lavoratori Anziani, Previdenza, Welfare, Aspettative.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 13267
Author(s):  
Christer Gustafsson ◽  
Elisabetta Lazzaro

In this paper we highlight the importance of culture, cultural heritage and creative industries (CCI) in current European policies in relation to a number of societal challenges, and how the CCI are called to innovatively respond to such challenges. We distinguish four main societal challenges to which the CCI can strategically respond and significantly unlock the potential for innovation and smart growth in the EU. These societal challenges are addressed by four main pillars of the CCI, namely: (1) Europeans’ creativity, cultural diversity and values; (2) European identity and cohesion; (3) European employment, economic resilience and smart growth; and (4) Europe’s external relations. We address each societal challenge from the CCI perspective, indicating how the CCI can provide innovative responses to such challenges and enable strategic crossovers through networking and collaboration, but also referring to some criticalities. We further discuss how this CCI capacity needs public support and provide an overview of how this is undertaken via the main EU, national and international policies, with a focus on the latest trends.


Author(s):  
Sergei Scherbov ◽  
Warren C. Sanderson

Probably the most famous demographic riddle of all time is the one that the Sphinx was said to have posed to travellers outside the Greek city of Thebes: ‘Which creature walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening?’ Unfortunate travellers who could not answer the riddle correctly were immediately devoured. Oedipus, fresh from killing his father, was the first to have got the answer right. The correct answer was ‘humans’. People crawl on their hands and knees as infants, walk on two feet in adulthood, and walk with a cane in old age. We easily recognize the three ages of humans. Humans are born dependent on the care of others. As they grow, their capacities and productivities generally increase, but eventually these reach a peak. After a while, capacities and productivities decline and, eventually, if they are lucky enough to survive, people become elderly, often again requiring transfers and care from others. The human life cycle is the basis of all studies of population ageing, and so we cannot begin to study population ageing without first answering the Sphinx’s riddle. However, answering the Sphinx’s riddle is not enough to get us started on a study of population ageing. We must take two more steps before we begin. First, we must recognize that not all people age at the same rate. As seen in Chapter 5, nowadays more educated people tend to have longer life expectancies than less educated people. Second, we must realize that there is no natural generalization of the Sphinx’s riddle to whole populations. Populations cannot be categorized into the stages of infancy, adulthood, and old age. Indeed, if the Sphinx was reborn today, we might find her sitting near another city and posing an equally perplexing riddle, one especially relevant for our times: ‘What can grow younger as it grows older?’ Answering this riddle correctly is the central challenge of this chapter and the key to understanding population ageing in the twenty-first century.


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