Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T03:13:32.147Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Divided citizenship: how retirement in the host country affects the financial status of intra-European Union migrants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 October 2017

PAUL BRIDGEN  and
TRAUTE MEYER
PAUL BRIDGEN*
Affiliation:
Social Sciences, University of Southampton, UK.
TRAUTE MEYER
Affiliation:
Social Sciences, University of Southampton, UK.
*
Address for correspondence: Paul Bridgen, Social Sciences, University of Southampton, University Road, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Since European Union (EU) enlargement in 2003, labour migration from East to West and South to North has increased. It is to be expected that a share of these workers will want to retire in their host countries. According to the academic literature, EU legislation protects such mobility well by allowing the transfer of rights accrued in any EU country to another. However, such research has focused on legislation, not outcomes. We know little about how migration will affect the financial status of retired migrants in their host country and their ability to sustain a life there, should they stay after retirement. Using migration, wage and pension policy data (Eurostat, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), this paper projects the post-retirement incomes of a range of hypothetical EU migrants, selected in relation to the most common migratory flows since 2003. After having worked in their home countries (Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Italy) for at least ten years, these people move to richer countries (Italy, Spain, Germany, United Kingdom) and work there for at least 30 years. To determine whether they can remain settled after decades of labour force participation in the host country, the paper adds their pension entitlements from home and host countries and compares this income with the relative poverty line of the host countries. This shows that good portability of entitlements matters little when these are very low because of a large wage gap between home and host country. Thus, after at least 30 years of enjoying all citizenship rights as workers, most of these individuals are projected to receive incomes below the relative poverty line of their host countries and thus experience a sharp drop in this status. Their citizenship is diminished. The paper concludes by considering policies that could avoid such an outcome.

Keywords

citizenshipEuropean Unionpensionsmigrantssocial rights
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 39 , Issue 3 , March 2019 , pp. 465 - 487
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ackers, H. L. 1998. Shifting Spaces: Women, Citizenship and Migration Within the EU. Policy Press, Bristol, UK.Google Scholar
Ackers, H. L. and Dwyer, P. 2002. Senior Citizenship? Retirement Migration and Welfare in the European Union. Policy Press, Bristol, UK.Google Scholar
Ackers, H. L. and Dwyer, P. 2004. Fixed laws, fluid lives: the citizenship status of post- retirement migrants in the European Union. Ageing & Society, 24, 3, 451–75.Google Scholar
Alexandru, M. 2012. Stories of upward social mobility and migration in one Romanian commune. On the emergence of “rurban” spaces in migrant sending communities. Eastern Journal of European Studies, 3, 2, 141–60.Google Scholar
Anderson, K. 2015. Social Policy in the European Union. Palgrave, Basingstoke, UK.Google Scholar
Baldwin, P. 1990. The Politics of Social Solidarity: Class Bases of the European Welfare State, 1875–1975. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Black, R., Engbersen, G., Okolski, M. and Pantiru, C. (eds) 2010. A Continent Moving West? EU Enlargement and Labour Migration from Central and Eastern Europe. Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Bonoli, G. 2003. Two worlds of pension reform in Western Europe. Comparative Politics, 35, 4, 399–416.Google Scholar
Bosniak, L. 2000. Citizenship denationalized. International Journal of Global Legal Studies, 7, 2, 447–509.Google Scholar
Bridgen, P. and Meyer, T. 2007. Private pensions versus social inclusion? Citizens at risk and the new pensions orthodoxy. In Meyer, T., Bridgen, P. and Riedmüller, B. (eds), Private Pensions Versus Social Inclusion? Non-State Provision for Citizens at Risk in Europe. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, 3–46.Google Scholar
Bridgen, P. and Meyer, T. 2014. The liberalisation of the German social model: public–private pension reform in Germany since 2001. Journal of Social Policy, 43, 1, 37–68.Google Scholar
Comet, J. M. 2014. Into which jobs do the unemployed move? Differences between Spaniards and foreigners in a changing economy. Revista Internacional De Sociologia, 72, 2, 353–74.Google Scholar
Conant, L. 2006. Individuals, courts and the development of European social rights. Comparative Political Studies, 39, 1, 76–100.Google Scholar
Conover, P. J. 1995. Citizen identities and conceptions of the self. Journal of Political Philosophy, 3, 2, 133–65.Google Scholar
Constant, A. and Massey, D. S. 2005. Labor market segmentation and the earnings of German guestworkers. Population Research and Policy Review, 24, 6, 489–512.Google Scholar
Cook, J. 2010. Exploring older women's citizenship: understanding the impact of migration in later life. Ageing & Society, 30, 2, 253–73.Google Scholar
Copeland, P. and Daly, M. 2014. Poverty and social policy in Europe 2020: ungovernable and ungoverned. Policy and Politics, 42, 3, 351–65.Google Scholar
De Arcangelis, G. D. and Joxhe, M. 2015. How do migrants save? Evidence for the British Household Panel Survey on temporary and permanent migrants versus natives. IZA Journal of Migration, 4, 11, 1–23.Google Scholar
de Coulon, A. and Wolff, F. C. 2005. Immigrants at retirement: stay/return or ‘va-et-vient’? CEP Discussion Paper 691, Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics, London.Google Scholar
Dustmann, C. 1996. Return migration: the European experience. Economic Policy, 22, 1, 215–50.Google Scholar
Dustmann, C. and Kirchkamp, O. 2000. The optimal migration duration and economic activities after return migration. Journal of Development Economics, 67, 2, 351–72.Google Scholar
Dwyer, P. 2001. Retired EU migrants, healthcare rights and European Social Citizenship. Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 23, 3, 311–27.Google Scholar
Edin, P., LaLonde, R. J. and Åslund, O. 2000. Emigration of immigrants and measures of immigrant assimilation: evidence from Sweden. Swedish Economic Policy Review, 7, 2, 163–204.Google Scholar
European Commission 2014. Amended Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Minimum Requirements for Enhancing Worker Mobility by Improving the Acquisition and Preservation of Supplementary Pension Rights (Presented by the Commission Pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty). COM/2007/0603 Final – COD 2005/0214, European Commission, Brussels. Available online at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/;ELX_SESSIONID=8fXBTQ9pq37Jy4X7Sdb3HCv9XF2WhRqfLVL91YhnJdLHsbVl8pLy!-406317717?uri=CELEX:52007PC0603 [Accessed July 2015].Google Scholar
Eurostat 2011. Migrants in Europe. A Statistical Portrait of the First and Second Generation. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.Google Scholar
Eurostat 2015. Population by Country of Birth. Available online at http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database [Accessed March 2017].Google Scholar
Eurostat 2017. Population by Sex, Age Group and Citizenship. Available online at http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=migr_pop1ctz&lang=en [Accessed March 2017].Google Scholar
Glick Schiller, N. and Fouron, G. 1998. Transnational lives and national identities: the identity politics of Haitian immigrants. In Smith, M. P. and Guamizo, L. E. (eds), Transnationalism from Below. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 130–64.Google Scholar
Granier, R. and Marciano, G. 1975. The earnings of immigrant workers in France. International Labour Review, 111, 2, 143–65.Google Scholar
Hagen, K. and Kleinlein, A. 2012. Ten years of the Riester pension scheme: no reason to celebrate. DIW Economic Bulletin, 2, 2, 3–13.Google Scholar
Kilnthäll, M. 2006. Retirement return migration from Sweden. International Migration, 44, 2, 153–78.Google Scholar
Kleinman, M. 2002. A European Welfare State? European Union Social Policy in Context. Palgrave, Basingstoke, UK.Google Scholar
Kočenda, E., Kutan, A. M. and Taner, M. Y. 2006. Pilgrims to the Eurozone: how far, how fast? Economic Systems, 30, 4, 311–27.Google Scholar
Koopmans, R. 2010. Trade-offs between equality and difference: immigrant integration, multiculturalism and the welfare state in cross-national perspective. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 36, 1, 1–26.Google Scholar
Kumcu, M. E. 1989. The savings behaviour of migrant workers – Turkish workers in West Germany. Journal of Development Economics, 30, 2, 275–86.Google Scholar
Kymlicka, W. and Banting, K. 2006. Immigration, multiculturalism and the welfare state. Ethnic and International Affairs, 20, 3, 281–304.Google Scholar
Marshall, T. H. 2009. Citizenship and social class. In Manza, I. and Sauder, A. (eds), Inequality and Society. W. W. Norton and Co., New York, 148–54.Google Scholar
Matkowski, Z. and Proćhniak, M. 2007. Economic convergence between the CEE-8 and the European Union. Eastern European Economics, 45, 1, 59–76.Google Scholar
Mau, S. and Burkhardt, C. 2009. Migration and welfare state solidarity in Western Europe. Journal of European Social Policy, 19, 3, 213–29.Google Scholar
Meyer, T. How European pension promises change in austere times: 2002–2015. In Kennett, P. and Lendvai-Bainton, N. (eds), Handbook of European Social Policy. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, in press.Google Scholar
Meyer, T., Bridgen, P. and Andow, C. 2013. Free movement? The impact of legislation, benefit generosity and wages on the pensions of European migrants. Population, Place and Space, 19, 6, 714–26.Google Scholar
Ministers of the Interior of Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK 2013. Letter to the Irish Presidency. Available online at http://docs.dpaq.de/3604-130415_letter_to_presidency_final_1_2.pdf [Accessed January 2015].Google Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 2008. International Migration Outlook. OECD, Paris.Google Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 2012. Pensions Outlook. OECD, Paris.Google Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD) 2015. Pensions at a Glance 2015. Retirement Income Systems in OECD and G20 Countries. OECD, Paris.Google Scholar
Pemberton, H., Thane, P. and Whiteside, N. (eds) 2006. Britain's Pension Crisis: History and Policy. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Piore, M. J. 1979. Birds of Passage. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Pollard, D. and Ross, M. 1994. European Community Law: Texts and Material. Butterworth, London.Google Scholar
Poulain, M. and Perrin, N. 2002. The demographic characteristics of immigrant populations in Belgium. In Haug, W., Compton, P. and Courbage, Y. (eds), The Demographic Characteristics of Immigrant Populations. Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg, France, 57–129.Google Scholar
Powers, M. G. and Seltzer, W. 1998. Occupational status and mobility among undocumented immigrants by gender. International Migration Review, 32, 1, 21–55.Google Scholar
Rake, K. 1999. Accumulated disadvantage? Welfare state provision and the incomes of older women and men in Britain, France and Germany. In Clasen, J. (ed.), Comparative Social Policy: Concepts, Theories and Methods. Macmillan, Basingstoke, UK, 222–45.Google Scholar
Saraceno, C. 2010. Concepts and practices of social citizenship in Europe; the case of poverty and income support for the poor. In Alber, J. and Gilbert, N. (eds), United in Diversity? Oxford University Press, Oxford, 151–75.Google Scholar
Scharpf, F. 2002. The European social model: coping with the challenges of diversity. Journal of Common Market Studies, 40, 4, 645–70.Google Scholar
Schierup, C.-U., Hansen, P. and Castles, S. 2006. Migration, Citizenship, and the European Welfare State: A European Dilemma. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Schneider, F. 2012. The shadow economy and work in the shadow: what do we (not) know? Discussion Paper 6423, Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn, Germany.Google Scholar
Soysal, Y. 1994. The Limits of Citizenship: Migration and Postnational Membership in Europe. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Townsend, P. 1979. Poverty in the United Kingdom. Penguin, London.Google Scholar
Warnes, A. 1999. Divided responses to an ageing population: apocalyptic demography, ideology and rational social administration. In Hudson, R. and Williams, A. (eds), Divided Europe. Sage, London, 231–54.Google Scholar
Warnes, A. 2002. The challenge of intra-Union migration to social Europe. Journal of Ethnic and Migraton Studies, 28, 1, 135–52.Google Scholar
Warnes, A. M., Friedrich, K., Kellaher, L. and Torres, S. 2004. The diversity and welfare of older migrants in Europe. Ageing & Society, 24, 3, 307–26.Google Scholar
Warnes, A. M., King, R., Williams, A. and Patterson, G. 1999. The well-being of British expatriate retirees in southern Europe. Ageing & Society, 19, 6, 717–40.Google Scholar
Weiler, J. 1998. Introduction: European citizenship, identity and differentity. In La Torre, M. (ed.), European Citizenship: An Institutional Challenge. Kluwer Law International, The Hague, 1–24.Google Scholar
Wiener, A. 1998. ‘European’ Citizenship Practice: Building Institutions of a Non-State. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado.Google Scholar