Transnational Ageing and Family Processes among Elderly Hong Kong Parents

Transnational ageing is particularly relevant to Hong Kong due to the combination of its ageing population, increasing population mobility and elongation of post-retirement life. Much of the scholarly work on transnational migration from Hong Kong since the 1990s has focused on the transnational mobility of emigrants who departed to the west before the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China. While studies have provided insights into these migrants’ continuous migration through the life course, we know very little about their migration trajectories and how they live within a transnational context in their old age. This study aims to understand the links between ageing and migration and their impact on the elderly and society. This study will explore the transnational processes of ageing among elderly returnees in Hong Kong and Hong Kong–born elderly migrants residing abroad who are 60 years and over. Our overriding research question is: “How do elderly Hong Kong transnationals organise and cope with ageing in contexts no longer bound to the frame of a single nation-state?” Employing qualitative research methods, we will examine their residential considerations, the role of non-proximate family networks in care circuits, transnational coping strategies and practices, and cross-border utilisation of elderly care services.

Funding Source: UGC - Other Specific Funds/Earmarked Grants^