Living Arrangements and Supplemental Income Programs for Older Adults in Mexico.

Living arrangements often reflect important quality-of-life indicators for elderly adults. In particular, increased income can prompt changes in household living arrangements for elderly adults. Using a differences-in-differences approach, we examine whether a supplemental income program in Mexico for adults aged 70 and older influenced household size and composition. We compare outcomes at baseline and at six-month follow-up for elderly adults in the treatment group with those in the control group that did not participate in the program. We find that household size increased by 3% in the treatment group relative to the control group. We also find a statistically significant increase in the number of girls aged 6-11 in the household, likely the granddaughters or great-granddaughters of program recipients. Increases in household size were greatest for adults aged 70-79, couples, households receiving two or more supplemental incomes, and households in the top income tercile. Household size did not increase for households of adults aged 80 and older, singles, households with only one supplemental income recipient, and households not in the top income tercile. These results suggest that when older adults have more income, they use part of this income to house their grandchildren.

The Role of Clinics in Determining Older Recent Immigrants' Use of Health Services.

Immigrants are ineligible for federally-funded Medicaid in the U.S. until at least 5 years after arrival. There is little information on where they receive care in light of this restriction. Using Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition, this study examines whether the setting in which older recent immigrants receive care (i.e., health clinic, emergency room or doctor's office) explains delays in care. Among older adults with a usual source of care, 13.5% of recent immigrants had not seen a health professional in the past year compared to 8.6% of non-recent immigrants and 6.3% of native-born. Approximately 23% of these differences is attributable to recent immigrants' tendency to receive care in clinics and community health centers. Even when older recent immigrants manage to find a usual source of care, it is of lower quality than that received by their non-recent immigrant and native-born counterparts.

Foreign retirement income among new older immigrants in the United States.

Older adults make up an increasing share of new legal immigrants to the United States. These immigrants are often financially dependent on family since they are often barred from receiving several U.S. support programmes and are less likely to receive U.S. retirement benefits than natives. However, little information exists as to whether they receive retirement income from abroad. Using the New Immigrant Survey (N=2,150), we find that only 8.1 per cent of older recent immigrants report receiving foreign retirement income. In logistic modeling, older immigrants from Asia and Latin America were less likely to receive retirement income from abroad than those from Europe (Odds ratio = 0.50, p<0.05; Odds ratio = 0.22, p<0.001, respectively). Results suggest that newly admitted older immigrants from Asia and Latin America face an additional economic disadvantage compared to older Europeans that cannot be attributed to their demographic and migration characteristics.

Social Security Contributions and Return Migration Among Older Male Mexican Immigrants.

Purpose: For decades, scholars have studied the effects of immigration on the U.S. social security system. To date, this research has been primarily limited to migrants within the United States and does not consider those who return to their countries of origin. We estimate the proportion of male Mexican return migrants who contributed to the U.S. social security system and analyze their socioeconomic characteristics and migration histories. We also estimate the proportion that receive or expect to receive U.S. social security benefits. Design and Methods: Using probit regression on the 2012 Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS), we describe the predictors of having contributed to the U.S. social security system among Mexican males in Mexico aged 50 years and older who at some point lived in the United States. Results: We find that 32% of male return migrants reported having contributed to the U.S. social security system, but only 5% of those who contributed, received or expected to receive benefits. Those who reported having contributed spent more years in the United States and were more likely to be U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents than those who did not contribute. Implications: Immigrants often pay Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance taxes using legitimate or illegitimate social security numbers and return to their home countries without collecting U.S. social security benefits.

The Time Intensity of Childcare Provided by Older Immigrant Women in the United States.

Older adults comprise an increasing share of new legal admits to the United States. While many are financially dependent on their families, a more complete picture requires taking into account the nonmonetary contributions of this population. Using the American Time Use Survey, this study examines whether older recent immigrant women provide more unpaid childcare than their native-born and more established immigrant counterparts. Results suggest that while older recent immigrant women are more likely to provide unpaid childcare, this effect is eliminated upon controlling for demographic characteristics. However, among those who do provide childcare, older recent immigrant women provide more hours of care even after controlling for demographic and household characteristics. This pattern holds up even after restricting the analysis to women living with young children. These results may signal reciprocal supportive networks. Working-age adults may financially support older recent immigrants, while older recent immigrants provide unremunerated childcare for working-age adults.

The Impact of Social Security on Return Migration among Latin American Elderly in the U.S.

International migration has long been considered the preserve of working-age adults. However, the rapid diversification of the elderly population calls for increased attention to the migration patterns of this group and its possible motivations. This study examines whether Latin American immigrants who are primary Social Security beneficiaries are more likely to return to their home countries during later life if they receive lower Social Security benefits. Using a regression discontinuity approach on restricted data from the U.S. Social Security Administration (N=1,515), this study presents the results of a natural experiment whereby the Social Security Administration unexpectedly lowered the Social Security benefits of the 1917-1921 birth cohorts due to a miscalculation in the benefit-calculation formula. Results suggest that approximately 10% of primary Social Security beneficiaries from Latin America born close to these dates return migrated, the probability of which was not affected by Social Security benefit levels.