AGEWELL · Ageing Migrants' Well-being: The Structuring of Local Welfare Provisions at the Intersection of Public, Private, Third Sector and the Family

The project’s scope is to advance the state-of-the-art research in the area of ageing migrants, local welfare regimes and care provisions. The project focuses on three dimensions: 1) local welfare policies with a focus on care for ageing migrants; 2) the role of the family as an informal care provider and 3) the care by ageing migrants. The results would serve to expand the knowledge base of local welfare policies capable to contribute to the well being of ageing migrants.Lately there has been increasing awareness that some migrants are reaching the retirement age at the destination and some people choose to migrate after retirement. Like in many other European countries, in Switzerland, occurs a rapid ageing of the migrant population. From the heterogeneous group of ageing migrants, two sub-groups will be chosen – labour migrants from after WWII and the refugees – which exist in many European countries. Particular attention will be given categories at risk: separated women and the ‘older old’.To address these interdisciplinary issues, the project will employ mixed-methods, combining qualitative and quantitative methods. There will be done a quantitative analysis of the ageing migrants population in Switzerland, there will be conducted interviews with ageing migrants and with local stakeholders in the welfare provisions in three selected regions, and there will be done a policy and institutional analysis of local policies with respect to care.The project conducts several comparisons – between ageing migrant groups and between regions – in order to underline differences and similarities, and explore the causalities leading to these outcomes.The expected results would be to 1) develop conceptual framework for analysing the evolving notion of welfare by focusing on the dynamics between public, private and third sector; 2) underline the contribution of ageing migrants in society and 3) explore the limitations of the family in welfare provisions.