Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
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Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, Vol 53, Issue 5 S287-S298, Copyright © 1998 by The Gerontological Society of America


ARTICLES

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.





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