Engendering the Life Cycle of Migration and Elderly Support: Strategies Among Latino Immigrants in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Edith Yolanda Gutierrez Vazquez , Universidad de Guadalajara
Chenoa A. Flippen, University of Pennsylvania

Latin America is transitioning to a fast aging process in a context of a weak social security system. Families have become a key provider of elder's support, yet, the complexity that international migration adds to the intergenerational reallocation of resources is still understudied. Using original quantitative and qualitative data of the 2015 Wellbeing of Latino Immigrants in South Philadelphia Study, we analyze how including questions of distinct modes of support provide a better measure of intergenerational transfers, mostly to capture gender differences in support. Questions on support directed to the elderly measured better support coming from less finnatially stable immigrants, sporadic support, and emergencies, which were under reported in the classic measures. The determinants and processes behind the different modes of support showed that transnational family arrangements are key in shaping elder support; gender differences are a consequence of the gendered interactions between migration, family formation (specially marital status), and work.

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 Presented in Session 188. Migration's Impacts on Gender