Stephanie Barros Coimbra

Family Cultures in The Context of Migration and Ageing

Intergenerational family relations are embedded in family cultures which influence how families regulate their relations over the whole life span with regard to key issues, such as autonomy and relatedness, or support exchange and reciprocity, and which may vary inter- and intraculturally. Migrant families undoubtedly face a special situation as values and expectations from the culture of origin and from the host cultural context might differ. Not much is known yet about how migrant families adapt their family cultures to the host cultural context. The present article will focus on aspects of intergenerational family regulation by taking into account family cultures of migrant compared to non-migrant families in a life span perspective. We will illustrate our theoretical outline by presenting first results from the IRMA-study comparing Luxembourgish and Portuguese immigrant families living in Luxembourg. We focus on issues of family cohesion, enmeshment and normative expectations regarding adult children’s support for their ageing parents, by drawing both on quantitative questionnaire as well as qualitative interview data. Implications for the experience of ambivalence and conflicts as well as well-being of family members from both generations will be discussed.

Future plans and the regulation of well-being of older Portuguese immigrants in Luxembourg

Ageing and migration have become key issues in many European countries, as an unprecedented number of first generation immigrants are currently approaching retirement age. A permanent return to the country of origin seems to be enacted more seldom after retirement than initially envisaged, a phenomenon referred to as “myth of return”. Instead, a third alternative seems to gain interest for ageing migrants, namely commuting between host country and country of origin. The present paper addresses future plans regarding preferred country of residence after retirement and the regulation of well-being of middle-aged and older first generation immigrants. The sample included N = 109 Portuguese first generation immigrants (49.5% female; average age: M = 55.35, SD = 7.42) who had been living in Luxembourg for about M = 30.69 (SD = 8.55) years. Analyses show that only one-fifth of participants plan to return to Portugal, whereas almost one-half prefer to stay in Luxembourg, one-quarter choose to commute, the remainder still being undecided. No differences in life-satisfaction were found, but those who plan to return used fewer self-regulatory strategies compared to those who want to stay or commute; in the STAY group, positive reappraisal strategies were related most strongly to their life-satisfaction, whereas for those who plan to commute both primary and secondary control were beneficial. Interestingly, lowering aspirations was positively related with life-satisfaction for those who plan to return to their country of origin after retirement. Results are discussed taking into consideration aspects of integration and migration experiences over the life-span.