Transnational Aging: The Impacts of Adult Children's Immigration on Their Parents' Later Lives

Abstract

In an age of international migration, we do not yet well understand the impacts of adult children's immigration processes on their parents' later lives. Drawing on data from a larger study of Chinese grandparents' caregiving experiences in Canada, this article explores three interconnected aspects of aging in a context of transnational care—the intergenerational relationships, the cultural idea of filial piety, and elder care arrangements. The findings reveal that adult children's immigration has not only changed their parents' life trajectories, it has also confirmed the relevance of state borders and multi-stranded transnational connections (e.g. material, cognitive, emotional, and symbolic) to the parents' movement into older age. I argue that in a context of transnationalism, aging can no longer be understood as solely an age-based individual experience “in place,” as it includes dynamic processes that are simultaneously shaped by various familial, social, cultural, economic, and political forces across countries.