Migration in Later Life and Economic Insecurity

Ann H. Kim, York University
Karen Robson, York University

Studies on immigrant seniors recognize that they are not a homogenous group. One dimension of difference that has been the focus of recent work on immigrant seniors is the age at which they migrated. The age at migration is an important factor for understanding how life stage shapes integration outcomes. The problem with using age at migration, however, is that it often conflates life stage with the length of time an immigrant has been in a host society. This paper examines both the life stage at migration and the length of time in the host society to understand their effects on poverty among seniors. Using a sample of older adults, 55 years and older, from from the 2006 Canadian Census, we find that immigrating seniors are more likely to live with economic insecurity and that more recently arrived seniors have the highest rates of low income net of covariates.