Browsing by Autor "Claudio Bolzman"

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Democratization of ageing: also a reality for elderly immigrants?
(Taylor & Francis, 2011) Claudio Bolzman
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 ImmigrantsSwitzerlandSocial and Health SituationInequalitiesSocial SecurityAccess to Social ServicesMots-clés: Immigrés âgésSuisseSituation Sociale et SanitaireInégalitésSécurité SocialeAccés 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%.
Professional stances and personal values in the realm of transnational family reunification with older parents: social work practice in an emerging field
(Taylor & Francis, 2012) Marilène Vuille; Claudio Bolzman; Elisabeth Hirsch Durrett
National rules for family reunification take place in an increasingly transnational context. Social workers in Switzerland, whether they work in services for migrants or for elders, are confronted with requests for transnational family reunification with older parents. Such requests, while relatively rare, elicit responses which must be viewed as largely founded on professionals' values and norms regarding the care of elders, family cohabitation, the influence of cultural factors, and examined against a backdrop of increasing suspicion of motives for migration—especially in fields where migration issues have not been at the forefront of professional debate and practice. The militant stance of some services for migrants can thus be contrasted with the relative inexperience of professionals active in social services for elders, who rarely encounter recent migrants. The latter are more likely to reflect their own private—and unexamined—views when advising clients in a field characterised by complexity and instability. The authors interviewed social workers and families in two Swiss cantons. Their results point to ways in which distinct professional cultures could enrich each other and provide social workers with tools to critically analyse their own practice in a very difficult field, the contours of which remain largely unexplored.
What To Do After Retirement? Elderly Migrants and the Question of Return
(Taylor & Francis, 2006) Claudio Bolzman; Rosita Fibbi; Marie Vial
This paper analyses in general terms the ‘return question’ or, to be more precise, the intentions of older Italian and Spanish migrants living in Switzerland as to their place of residence after retirement, and the criteria governing their decision. Survey data reveal that the majority of respondents either planned to stay in Switzerland, or to live part of the year in Switzerland and part of the year in their home country; the return option was less popular. The literature on migration has already pointed to the existence of the ‘third option’, namely dividing the residence between two countries. In particular, studies on northern European retirees in southern European areas have shown evidence of this form of living arrangement. But the extent of the phenomenon among former guestworkers who came from southern countries to a northern country seems surprising. Moreover, this option, a manifestation of the ‘circulation of migrants’, is adopted as a project not only by people of high but also low socio-economic status. This option is popular because it is related to the development through time of a way of life defined by dual preference, namely to maintain cultural, symbolic, concrete and affective ties with both countries.