Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, Vol 53, Issue 5 S287-S298, Copyright © 1998 by The Gerontological Society of America
Informal exchanges with non-kin among retired sunbelt migrants: a case study of a Finnish American retirement community
EP Stoller
Department of Sociology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA. [email protected]
OBJECTIVES: This study examined informal exchanges with non-kin among
retired Sunbelt migrants, with special emphasis on the impact of ethnic
enclaves in generating exchanges of instrumental assistance and emotional
support among elderly European Americans. METHODS: Data were collected
through interviews with four samples of elders: Finnish Americans who
migrated to an ethnic retirement community in Florida; European Americans
who migrated to the same community but are not part of an ethnic enclave;
Finnish Americans living in an age-integrated setting in Minnesota; and
retired European Americans living in the same Minnesota community. RESULTS:
Migrants were less likely than elders aging-in-place to report informal
exchanges with non-kin. Finnish American migrants were less likely than
other European American migrants to provide instrumental assistance to
non-kin but were more likely to anticipate relying on informal long-term
care support, regardless of proximity to kin. There were no differences in
the two migrant samples in exchanges of emotional support. DISCUSSION:
Evidence regarding substitution of non-kin for geographically distant kin
is mixed. Results are consistent with a strategy of "banking" support, at
the community level among the Finnish American migrants and at the network
level among other European American migrants.
