Social Isolation, Loneliness and Return Migration: Evidence from Older Irish Adults

Alan Barrett and Irene Mosca

No 6331, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Across the subjects of economics, sociology and demography, much has been written about the difficulties faced by immigrants. However, much less attention has been paid to the re-adjustment challenges migrants face on their return. In this paper, we examine whether and the extent to which a group of returned migrants experience higher degrees of social isolation and loneliness compared to compatriots who never lived abroad. The data used are from the first wave of the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). We find that social isolation is a significant feature of the lives of return migrants.

Keywords: loneliness; social isolation; immigrants (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F22 J61 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 41 pages
Date: 2012-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mig and nep-soc
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Published - published in: Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2013, 39 (10), 1659-1677

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