Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T18:10:11.852Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Does it matter where the children are? The wellbeing of elderly people ‘left behind’ by migrant children in Moldova

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2016

JENNIFER WAIDLER ,
MICHAELLA VANORE ,
FRANZISKA GASSMANN  and
MELISSA SIEGEL
JENNIFER WAIDLER*
Affiliation:
Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.
MICHAELLA VANORE
Affiliation:
Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.
FRANZISKA GASSMANN
Affiliation:
Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.
MELISSA SIEGEL
Affiliation:
Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.
*
Address for correspondence: Jennifer Waidler, Maastricht Graduate School of Governance/UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University, Boschstraat 24, 6211 AX, Maastricht, The Netherlands E-mail: Jennifer.waidler@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper empirically evaluates the wellbeing of elderly individuals ‘left behind’ by their adult migrant children in Moldova. Using data from a nationally representative household survey conducted in 2011–12 in Moldova, the wellbeing outcomes of elderly individuals aged 60 and older with and without adult children living abroad are compared (N = 1,322). A multi-dimensional wellbeing index is constructed on the basis of seven indicators within four dimensions of wellbeing: physical health, housing, social wellbeing and emotional wellbeing. Probit regressions are used to predict the probability of an elderly individual being considered well in each indicator and then on total index level. The results reveal that elderly persons with an adult migrant child have a higher probability of being well in one physical health indicator. Following correction for the selectivity of migration using an instrumental variable approach, however, the migration of an adult child is no longer found to predict significantly the wellbeing of their elderly parents in any dimension, suggesting that migration bears limited consequences for elderly wellbeing.

Keywords

migrationelderlywellbeingmulti-dimensional wellbeingMoldova
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 37 , Issue 3 , March 2017 , pp. 607 - 632
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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

Abas, M. A., Punpuing, S., Jirapramukpitak, T., Guest, P., Tangchonlatip, K., Leese, M. and Prince, M. 2009. Rural–urban migration and depression in ageing family members left behind. British Journal of Psychiatry, 195, 1, 54–60.Google Scholar
Agree, E. M., Biddlecom, A. E. and Valente, T. W. 1999. Multi-generational exchanges in Taiwan and the Philippines: a social network approach. Hopkins Population Center Papers on Population WP 99-06, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.Google Scholar
Alkire, S. 2002. Dimensions of human development. World Development, 30, 2, 181–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alkire, S. and Foster, J. 2011. Counting and multidimensional poverty measurement. Journal of Public Economics, 95, 7/8, 476–97.Google Scholar
Alkire, S. and Santos, M. E. 2010. Acute multidimensional poverty: a new index for developing countries. Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative Working Paper 38, Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford, Oxford.Google Scholar
Antman, F. 2010. Adult child migration and the health of elderly parents left behind in Mexico. American Economic, 100, 2, 205–8.Google ScholarPubMed
Atkinson, A. B. 2003. Multidimensional deprivation: contrasting social welfare and counting approaches. Journal of Economic Inequality, 1, 1, 51–65.Google Scholar
Baldassar, L. 2007. Transnational families and aged care: the mobility of care and the migrancy of ageing. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 33, 2, 275–97.Google Scholar
Baldassar, L. and Baldock, C. 2000. Linking migration and family studies: transnational migrants and the care of aging parents. In Agozino, B. (ed.), Theoretical and Methodological Issues in Migration Research: Interdisciplinary, Intergenerational and International Perspectives. Ashgate, Aldershot, UK, 61–89.Google Scholar
Baldassar, L., Baldock, C. and Wilding, R. 2007. Families Caring Across Borders: Migration, Ageing and Transnational Caregiving. Palgrave Macmillan, New York.Google Scholar
Böhme, M., Persian, R. and Stöhr, T. 2013. Alone but better off? Adult child migration and health of elderly parents in Moldova. Kiel Working Paper 1876, Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Kiel, Germany.Google Scholar
Borowiak, E. and Kostka, T. 2004. Predictors of quality of life in older people living at home and in institutions. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, 16, 3, 212–20.Google Scholar
Brown, R. I. and Brown, I. 2004. Quality of Life and Disability: An Approach for Community Practitioners. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London.Google Scholar
Clark, A. E., Diener, E., Georgellis, Y. and Lucas, R. E. 2008. Lags and leads in life satisfaction: a test of the baseline hypothesis. The Economic Journal, 118, 529, F222–43.Google Scholar
Coughlin, J. 2010. Estimating the impact of caregiving and employment on well-being. Outcomes & Insights in Health Management, 2, 1, 1–7.Google Scholar
Cummins, R. 1996. The domains of life satisfaction: an attempt to order chaos. Social Indictors Research, 38, 3, 303–28.Google Scholar
Cummins, R. 1999. A psychometric evaluation of the comprehensive Quality of Life Scale – Fifth Edition. In Lim, L. Y., Yuen, B. K. P. and Löw, C. (eds), Urban Quality of Life: Critical Issues and Options. National University of Singapore, Singapore, 32–46.Google Scholar
Dijkers, M. 2007. ‘What's in a name?’ The indiscriminate use of the ‘quality of life’ label, and the need to bring about clarity in conceptualisations. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 44, 1, 153–5.Google Scholar
Dong, Y. and Lewbel, A. 2012. A simple estimator for binary choice models with endogenous regressors. Econometrics Reviews, 34, 1-2, 82–105.Google Scholar
Farquhar, M. 1995. Elderly people's definitions of quality of life. Social Science & Medicine, 41, 10, 1439–46.Google Scholar
Fillenbaum, G. 1984. The wellbeing of the elderly: approaches to multidimensional assessment. WHO Offset Publication 84, Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina and World Health Organization, Geneva.Google Scholar
Frankenberg, E., Lillard, L. and Willis, R. J. 2004. Patterns of intergenerational transfers in Southeast Asia. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64, 3, 627–41.Google Scholar
George, L. K. and Bearon, L. B. 1980. Quality of Life in Older Persons: Meaning and Measurement. Human Sciences Press, New York.Google Scholar
Grant, G., Falkingham, J. and Evandrou, M. 2009. The impact of adult children's migration on wellbeing in later life: voices from Moldova. Discussion Paper 0902, Centre for Research on Ageing, School of Social Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.Google Scholar
International Organisation for Migration 2012. Extended Migration Profile of the Republic of Moldova. International Organisation for Migration, Chisinau, Moldova.Google Scholar
Kalmijn, M. and Saraceno, C. 2008. A comparative perspective on intergenerational support. European Societies, 10, 3, 479–508.Google Scholar
Kanaiaupuni, S. 2000. Leaving parents behind: migration and elderly living arrangements in Mexico. Center for Demography and Ecology Working Paper 99-16, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin.Google Scholar
Kaneda, T., Lee, M. and Pollard, K. 2011. SCL/PRB Index of Well-being in Older Populations. Stanford Center on Longevity, Stanford, California.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, 783–816.Google Scholar
Kleibergen, F. and Paap, R. 2006. Generalized reduced rank tests using the singular value decomposition. Journal of Econometrics, 133, 1, 97–126.Google Scholar
Marchetta, F. 2012. Return migration and the survival of entrepreneurial activities in Egypt. World Development, 40, 10, 1999–2013.Google Scholar
Panţîru, M. C., Black, R. and Sabates-Wheeler, R. 2007. Migration and poverty reduction in Moldova. Working Paper C10, Development Research Centre on Migration, Globalisation, and Poverty, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.Google Scholar
Ratha, D., Mohapatra, S. and Silwal, A. 2011. Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011. World Bank, Washington DC.Google Scholar
Robeyns, I. 2005. The capability approach: a theoretical survey. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 6, 1, 93–117.Google Scholar
Roelen, K. and Gassmann, F. 2012. Child Well-being in Kazakhstan. UNICEF Kazakhstan, Astana, Kazakhstan.Google Scholar
Roelen, K., Gassmann, F. and de Neubourg, C. 2011. False positives or hidden dimensions: what can monetary and multidimensional measurement tell us about child poverty in Vietnam? International Journal of Social Welfare, 21, 4, 393–407.Google Scholar
Sen, A. 1993. Capability and well-being. In Nussbaum, M. and Sen, A. (eds), The Quality of Life . Clarendon Press, Oxford, 30–53.Google Scholar
Stöhr, T. 2013. Intra-family migration decisions and elderly left behind. Kiel Working Paper 1858, Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Kiel, Germany.Google Scholar
Terza, J., Bazu, A. and Rathouz, P. 2008. A two-stage residual inclusion estimation: addressing endogeneity in health econometric modeling. Journal of Health Economics, 27, 3, 531–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
United Nations 1998. Recommendation on statistics of international migration: revision 1. Statistical Papers Series M, 58, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division, United Nations, New York.Google Scholar
Ward, L., Barnes, M. and Gahagan, B. 2012. Well-being in Old Age: Findings from Participatory Research. University of Brighton and Age Concern, Brighton, UK. Available online at http://eprints.brighton.ac.uk/10631/1/Well_being_in_old_age_findings_from_participatory_research_full_report.pdf [Last accessed November 2013].Google Scholar
Zechner, M. 2008. Care of older persons in transnational settings. Journal of Aging Studies, 22, 1, 32–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zimmer, Z. and Knodel, J. 2013. Older-age parents in rural Cambodia and migration of adult children. Asian Population Studies, 9, 2, 156–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar