‘To Return or Not to Return, That Is the Question’: The Role of Health in Return Intentions Among Three Groups of Older Migrants in Italy

The role played by health status in shaping return migration intentions and decisions has received little attention. The few existing studies show conflicting results: poor and deteriorating health can be associated with both higher and lower propensity to return-migrate, depending on the context. In this paper, we investigate the health-return nexus for older migrants in Italy. We carry out two analyses. First, we use quantitative survey data to explore the relationship between health and return intentions of older immigrants from both high-migration-pressure countries and Western European countries. Second, in order to dig deeper into the complexity of return-migration decision-making, we draw on interviews with three groups of older migrants in Italy: retired labour migrants from Morocco; the ‘zero-generation’ Albanian parents of labour migrants who have joined their children in Italy; and British international retirement migrants. Results differ for each group and type of analysis, but the role of health and the location of children stand out as key factors in the stay-return dilemma.