Democratization of ageing: also a reality for elderly immigrants?

Abstract

Various papers published in Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe have highlighted an improvement in the living conditions of new cohorts reaching retirement age. This paper examines whether this general trend to old age democratization applies also to elderly immigrants. It reviews some dimensions of the older immigrant population situation in Switzerland. It explores mainly their socio-economic and health situation. The article also examines their access to social security and to social services for elderly people. It reports selected findings from two original surveys carried in Switzerland in the 1990s (Pre-Retired Immigrants study, PRI) and the 2000s (Minority Elderly Care study, MEC) on older Italian, Spanish and former Yugoslavians citizens who are residents in the country. The article gives also more general information about Swiss social security and social work with older populations.

Différents travaux publiés en Suisse et ailleurs en Europe ont mis en évidence une amélioration des conditions de vie de nouvelles cohortes qui arrivent à l’âge de la retraite. Cet article examine si cette tendance générale vers une démocratisation de la vieillesse s'applique aussi aux immigrés âgés. Il passe en revue un certain nombre de dimensions concernant la situation de la population âgée immigrée résidante en Suisse. Il s‘intéresse principalement à la situation de cette population tant sur le plan socio-économique que sur celui de la santé. L'article analyse aussi les questions d'accès des immigrés âgés à la sécurité sociale et aux services sociaux pour les personnes âgées. Le matériel empirique qui sert de base à l'article est tiré de deux recherches menées en Suisse dans les années 1990 (étude Pré-retraités immigrés, PRI) et dans les années 2000 (étude Minority Elderly Care, MEC), sur des personnes âgées italiennes, espagnoles et ex-Yougoslaves qui résident dans ce pays. L'article fournit également des informations plus générales sur le système suisse de sécurité social et sur le travail social avec des populations âgées.

Keywords:

• Elderly Immigrants
• Switzerland
• Social and Health Situation
• Inequalities
• Social Security
• Access to Social Services

Mots-clés:

• Immigrés âgés
• Suisse
• Situation Sociale et Sanitaire
• Inégalités
• Sécurité Sociale
• Accés aux Services Sociaux

Notes

1. We use here the term ‘elderly immigrants’ in a critical way. In fact one can ask to what extent the term ‘immigrant’ can be applied to persons who are living in Switzerland for more than 30 or 40 years. But the term ‘elderly foreigners’ which describes the legal situation of these minorities is not more accurate to describe our population. However, we shall use both terms in this paper: the first when we describe sociological realities, the second when we refer to legal descriptions.

2. The PRI research was part of a Swiss National Research Programme on ‘Ageing’. It was a ground-breaking study in this field in Switzerland. Its aim was to better understand a phenomenon hitherto unexplored, namely, the ageing of the Spanish and Italian workers who had come to Switzerland in the 1950s and 1960s. A quantitative study on a representative sample of 442 Spanish and Italian workers aged 55–64 living in Geneva and Basel City in 1993 threw some light on these people's living conditions and their plans for the future.

3. The MEC research aimed to know better the general situation of elderly immigrants in 10 European countries and their access to health and social care services (Patel, 2003). In Switzerland, three surveys were done between 2003 and 2004 in two regions: Geneva and Basle. The first survey was addressed to a sample of elderly Italians (100), Spanish (100) and former Yugoslavians (90); the second to 81 mainstream providers and the third to 25 professionals working in NGOs providing social services for immigrants.

4. In the case of former Yugoslavians the proportion of people with income under the level of poverty was of 22%.