Adult Child-Parent Relations in the Context of Migration

Ageing and migration have become key issues in many European countries today, as a large number of first generation immigrants of the 1970s are currently approaching retirement age. In this context, also questions regarding the intergenerational relations and intergenerational solidarity between first generation parents and their adult children - who have grown up in the host country - have gained high importance.
Although the idea of return migration might often be well present in the lives of ageing migrants, an actual permanent return to the country of origin seems to be enacted more seldom, especially when the own children have settled down permanently in the receiving country.
It is therefore of prime importance to learn more about the particular needs and resources of older migrants and their families. Ageing migrants face undoubtedly a special situation: The acculturation situation may result in an increased need for social support due to fewer sociocultural resources in the host country. Within migrant families, an acculturation gap between first and second generation might further lead to different expectations regarding intergenerational solidarity and support, and this can cause intergenerational strain and have negative effects on well-being of the different family members.
The present training session will address issues of relationship quality (such as solidarity, conflict, ambivalence) as well as aspects of intergenerational value transmission between ageing first generation parents and their adult children in the context of migration. Both theoretical considerations as well as results from a recent study on Portuguese immigrant families in Luxembourg (IRMA – Intergenerational Relations in the Light of Migration and Ageing, funded by the Fonds National de la Recherche Luxembourg) will be presented and discussed.