Transnational Practices among Senior Canadian Immigrant Families

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Transnational Practices among Senior Canadian Immigrant Families"

Meredith Long
5 years ago
Views:

1 Transnational Practices among Senior Canadian Immigrant Families International Istanbul Initiative on Ageing Sponsored by the International Federation on Ageing October 4, 2013 Nancy Mandell, Katharine King, Valerie Preston, Natalie Weiser, Ann Kim and Meg Luxton Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)

2 Purpose of the Study What are the major intergenerational exchanges within senior immigrant families? What factors influence intergenerational exchanges? How do exchanges shape senior economic security and well-being? What policies can we devise policies to deal with gaps and problems we might uncover?

3 What Affects Intergenerational Exchanges Globalization Life course Economics Gender Time of arrival (midlife senior or sponsored senior) Income security and other government services (pensions etc)

4 Life Course Perspective Interdependence of family members Family relations affected by: Age of Migration Immigration status: Sponsored seniors promote the survival and success of their families in different ways than those who immigrated earlier in life. Gendered and racialized life course Multiple jeopardy= gender, economics and ethnicity Cumulative structural disadvantage Who is poor in old age? Women, visible minorities and economically disadvantaged

5 GROUP FOCUS GROUPS # PARTICI- PANTS FEMALE HISPANIC IRANIAN VIETNAMESE RUSSIAN TAMIL KOREAN ITALIAN CHINESE URDU/PUNJABI CARIBBEAN SPANISH JAMAICAN TOTAL MALE

6 DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS WOMEN (N =69) MEN (N =37) AGE MARITAL STATUS Married Separated Widowed 25 6 Never Married 8 0

7 MIGRATION AND PENSIONS Women (N =69 ) Men (N =37) Time in Canada Arrived in 2000 s 11 6 Arrived in 90 s 4 2 Arrived 80 s or earlier Receiving Benefits Yes No 23 13

8 COMMUNITY GROUP HISPANIC & SPANISH SPEAKING INTERVIEWS FEMALE 2 2 IRANIAN 1 1 VIETNAMESE 2 1 RUSSIAN 1 1 TAMIL 1 1 KOREAN 1 1 ITALIAN 2 1 CHINESE 2 0 URDU/PUNJABI 1 2 DOMINICAN 3 1 JAMAICAN TOTAL 1 17 MALE 1 12

9 Characteristics of Senior Intergenerational Exchanges Glocal Bidirectional Multifaceted (financial, care, time, nurturing, transportation, housing) Lifelong Both genders Economics

10 Financial Exchanges: Immigrated as Adults Immigrated with or without children May have raised their families here Have years work experience in Canada May own a home May have some savings Qualify for government benefits Immigrants may have to make sacrifice a lot in many ways. You should have that in mind. It s a true fact of immigration. Don t just dream (f, 9). It is an absolute disadvantage for new immigrants who don t have any connections or networks here. We don t have either Canadian education background or Canadian experience (m, 2). First they have to upgrade themselves to access jobs. Many educated people who come from other countries, they face more problems here. When they go to companies, they ask for Canadian experience which is very difficult to gain for the new immigrants. This is the main drawback (f, 4).

11 Financial Exchanges: Immigrated as Adults Struggled to succeed in Canada Still feel insecure Provide moderate financial assistance to their adult children Continue to send remittances back home Financial transfers = financial sacrifice I still have three children that I still have to provide for I have to provide for all of them even the one who works full-time, she always says Gimme, gimme. She cannot make it on her own, she is still under me. (f, 6 ). We have relatives back in Jamaica that we are still helping Even with our meager pension, we are still helping others (f, 10).

12 Financial Exchanges: Immigrated as Sponsored Seniors Russians, Iranians, Koreans, Vietnamese, Russians Most came after some Russians and Koreans in 2011 More economically vulnerable No access to pension income or benefits Have trouble obtaining basic necessities (housing, transportation, health care) I am a kind of typical person for seniors. I came here when I was 55 years old. And because after my children sponsored me for 10 years, I will receive welfare assistance next year. During these times, it was very difficult for me to look for work. They do not want me. The two of us are so lucky that my children do have a little bit of extra income. For those families, who do not have any extra, it is very difficult. (f, 2).

13 Financial Assistance: Immigrated as Sponsored Seniors Financial proceeds from assets in host country enables children to buy homes leaves seniors with little if any money of their own Financially dependent on adult children co-residence a form of support Adult children have limited money and time Lack of English makes it difficult to work My daughter sponsored me and she is responsible for me but I haven t received anything from the government. I have whatever I need, medicine or whatever, my daughter gives it to me (f, 1). I feel bad to ask my daughter for things that I need or something for the week. It makes me feel embarrassed to be asking her, but I always see that she has to make sacrifices for me I feel like she has to do it alone (f, 4).

14 Care Work Exchanges: Immigrated as Care work is not work Family first ethic Bidirectional and reciprocal Adults Finances Caring for grandchildren, walking them to school and to programs, undertaking domestic labour, maintaining the family home Limits their availability to fully engage with a life stage after children The years go by fast. You see, the children, when they are kids they need you. Then when they grow up, they still need you. They get married, they still need you. So we are so attached to them (f, 7).

15 Care Work Exchanges: Immigrated as Co-residence Sponsored Seniors Global care chains (Hochschild 2001) I find that our generation is the most sandwiched. Have to take care of parents and children. However, to our children, they are in bliss because on a finance level, they don t have to worry (m, 12). Gendered patterns Of course because I think women run the home when the man is sick, women take care of (them) men can rely on the family for women to take care. Men get sick earlier than women so the experience is different (m, 9).

16 Care Work Exchanges: Transnational Households Hybrid Identities I ve been here 45 years. I m a Canadian citizen yes, but I don t feel that I m a Canadian. I don t feel that I m an Italian. I don t feel I m Canadian because the English is not perfect. It s not a language that I can speak inside out. And Italian, the same thing I almost forgot my language (f, 7). Return Migration Most West Indians expect to stay here, work and then go back but that never materialized. Number one, you re away from home and all your friends are gone and no one has time for you. Besides, you have OHIP here and you got your children that is so true. Those expectations. All of came here to build, to do, to get the money and go back and retire (f, 9).

17 Emotional Well-Being Seniors feel valued Feelings of sadness, isolation, loneliness, depression Seniors are isolated. They don t know how to travel by themselves. No free transportation. Many seniors don t go to work and language is a problem. Government should help with free transportation and more programs for seniors. That would help with mental health issues. They are happy to come to the senior programs with the free transportation to meet friends and desire more trips to go places and free swimming classes (m, 2).

18 Emotional Well-Being Adult children are so busy Children don t want to get along with their parents when they grow up. They want to live independently. I have been living with my daughter because we came to Canada together. She says You know mom, there are no daughters like me. I still live with you and spend time with you. Actually, she is the one who benefits from living together with me. She has no worry after giving birth to her children. (f, 6). Community Centres play an important role. We need communities centers to meet to get together with Latin American seniors and we could feel more like family; to have more activities, recreational activities, like we do here and then go home and relax, better (f, 1).

19 ELDER ABUSE Financial Abuse Lack of money from their adult children Not being allowed to use their own money to travel home to see their other children Pensions and investments from abroad confiscated by their adult children Emotional and Physical Abuse No one mentioned either emotional or physical abuse but two focus group leaders intimated to us that it was going on Children nowadays do not have the same traditional respect towards elders. For example, my children s kids do not hold the same respect for our parents, as my generation withholds (f,4).

20 Final Thoughts Mobile aging Intergenerational relations are shifting Transnationalism reconfigures conventional narratives about growing old New forms of senior families - new roles + new risks Communities important sources of support and knowledge

CITY OF MISSISSAUGA. Overview 2-1. A. Demographic and Cultural Characteristics

CITY OF MISSISSAUGA. Overview 2-1. A. Demographic and Cultural Characteristics Portraits of Peel Overview 2-1 A. Demographic and Cultural Characteristics Population: Size, Age and Growth 2-2 Immigrants 2-3 Visible Minorities 2-4 Language 2-5 Religion 2-6 Mobility Status 2-7 B. Household