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Residential Independence of Elderly Immigrants in Canada*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2014

Sharon M. Lee  and
Barry Edmonston
Sharon M. Lee*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Population Research Group, University of Victoria
Barry Edmonston
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Population Research Group, University of Victoria
*
†Correspondence and requests for offprints should be sent to/ La correspondance et les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être adressées à: Sharon Lee, Ph.D. Department of Sociology University of Victoria PO Box 3050, STN CSC Victoria, BC V8W 3P5 (sml@uvic.ca)
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Abstract

This article addresses three questions: Are elderly immigrants less likely than Canadian-born elderly people to reside independently? What are the effects of economic, cultural, and life course factors on residential independence among elderly immigrants? What are the effects of immigrant-specific characteristics such as duration of residence and cultural background? Descriptive results show that elderly immigrants are less likely to reside independently, but the large gap of over 15 per cent is reduced to 5 per cent once economic, cultural, life course, and other factors are considered in the multivariate analysis. Effects of economic, cultural, and life course factors are mostly as expected, as are those of immigrant-specific characteristics such as duration of residence. Although aging immigrants have more-varied living arrangements than their Canadian-born peers, these are likely to increasingly include residential independence.

Résumé

Cet article traite trois questions: les immigrants âgés sont-ils moins susceptibles que les personnes âgées, nées au Canada, de vivre de façon autonome? Quels sont les effets que les facteurs économiques, culturels et du parcours de vie exercent sur l'indépendance résidentielle chez les immigrants âgés? Quels sont les effets des caractéristiques propres aux immigrants, tels que la durée de résidence et le contexte culturel? Les résultats descriptifs montrent que les immigrants âgés sont moins susceptibles de vivre de façon autonome, mais le grand écart de plus de 15 pour cent est réduit à 5 pour cent quand les facteurs économiques, culturels, du parcours de la vie, et d'autres sont pris en compte dans l'analyse multivariée. Les effets des facteurs économiques, culturels et du parcours de vie sont pour la plupart comme prévu, de même que ceux des caractéristiques propres aux immigrants, comme la durée de résidence. Bien que les modes de vie des immigrants âgés sont plus variés que ceux de leurs pairs nés au Canada, ceux-ci sont de plus en plus susceptibles d'inclure l'indépendance résidentielle.

Keywords

ageingCanadaelderlyimmigrantsresidential independencevieillissmentCanadaaînésimmigrantsindépendence résidentielle
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 33 , Issue 4: Special Issue on Aging Families , December 2014 , pp. 359 - 377
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2014 

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Footnotes

*

This article is a revised version of a paper presented at the International Symposium on Aging Families, 3– 4 June 2013, University of Victoria, organized and sponsored by the Committee on Families and Family Well-being, Population Change and Lifecourse Strategic Knowledge Cluster, an initiative funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). We thank reviewers for their helpful comments. The findings and interpretations are the sole responsibility of the authors.

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