Social Isolation, Loneliness and Return Migration

Evidence from Older Irish Adults

Bibliographic Data

ID3624575
AuthorsAlan Barrett (0000-0002-1106-2528, IZA - Institute of Labor Economics, corresponding author), Irene Mosca (0000-0003-3933-6700, Trinity College Dublin, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume39
Issue10
Pages1659-1677
Publication date2013-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueNew Community (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-9586 • E-ISSN: 1469-9451
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1369183x.2013.833694
OpenAlexW2036006111
LanguageEN
Citations received25
References cited26

Across the subjects of economics, sociology and demography, much has been written about the difficulties faced by immigrants. However, much less attention has been paid to the difficulties which return migrants face when they come back to live in their countries of birth. A number of studies suggest that return migrants can experience significant re-adjustment challenges. In this paper, we add to this strand of research by examining the extent to which a group of returned migrants experience higher degrees of social isolation and loneliness compared to compatriots who never lived outside their country of birth. The data used are from the first wave of the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). Our results suggest that social isolation is a significant feature of the lives of return migrants and that the degree of social isolation is typically stronger for people who spent longer away and who have returned more recently

Demographic economics · Economics · Geography · Immigration · Irish · Loneliness · Longitudinal study · Social isolation · Sociology · Demography · Health disparities and outcomes · Medicine · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Aging, and Tourism Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology