Expert meeting
Policymakers, practitioners and academics working in the area of elderly care and migration came together for an expert meeting organised by the ThirdGen Project research team and Population Europe. This invitation-only event took place on November 13th to bring together stakeholders to discuss the current state of formal and informal elderly care arrangements prevalent among migrant families and explore the ways that they can respond to their unique care needs.
The attendees reflected on the current issues and challenges around elderly care across various European contexts and the origin country Turkey. They shared the policy landscape for the countries they work in and highlighted the challenge for migrant families in accessing formal care provision.
Preferences of care arrangements in migrant families were also discussed with a particular emphasis on how generic care policies often fall short of catering for the unique needs of these families.
Experts pointed out that migrant families prefer to provide care for their elderly within the families. However, such preferences are weakening in younger generations who are more open to utilising the formal provisions. Sector professionals also noted that governments increasingly avoid the fully formal care provisions and promoting a more hybrid arrangements where family members are encouraged to take a role in the care provision.
Public talk
Principal Investigator Professor Ayse Guveli of the ThirdGen project gave a public talk after the expert meeting. She discussed her extensive body of work on migrant outcomes from a dissimilation perspective. That is, how migrant and their descendants compare to those left behind. It gave an account of migrant’s advancements in different domains of life, including education, labour market, and family formation. The event was held online and attended by 226 people, including policy representatives, practitioners, and the general public.