Precarity and the welfare state in home and host countries

Author(s) : Marion Repetti, Toni Calasanti

Source: https://doi.org/10.51952/9781447358244.ch003

Abstract:

“Retirement migration is not only about geographical movement but also about people navigating between the policies of different states, such as those related to old age, public health insurance and residence or citizenship requirements. In countries of the Global North like the UK, Switzerland and the US, older people often rely on welfare state benefits for their economic security and their access to healthcare. In this context, the economic and health benefits that retirement migrants receive from their home countries, as well as whether they can access their state pensions and local healthcare systems in their host countries, influence their decisions about whether and where to migrate. In this chapter, we use literature on work, retirement and health policies in later life to explore the political-economic contexts shaping the precarity of older people in the UK, Switzerland and the US.”

Keywords: Pensions; Healthcare policies; Citizenship; UK; Switzerland; USA; Spain; Costa Rica; Mexico