Parenting Immigrants: Understanding How Family Relationships Impact the Wellbeing of Older Chinese Immigrants Living on the Gold Coast,Australia

Abstract

Immigration brings particular challenges to older Chinese immigrants’ wellbeing because they make a new home in a foreign country. Based on 30 semi-structured in-depth interviews, this study aims to understand the immigration history of this specific group and unravel the complex links between family relationships and wellbeing. Four themes emerged from the interviews. First, the decision to immigrate is the result of the combined influence of family values, affinities and the need for aged care. Second, after immigration, housework normally negatively influences their wellbeing. The third theme pertains to the interactions amongst family members. The final theme shows that Chinese immigrants’ perceived wellbeing is influenced by family relationships, an independent lifestyle and social networks. This research highlights older Chinese immigrants’ complex feelings of family commitment, personal values and the need for aged care. Practical implications for policymakers to better facilitate this group’s wellbeing are provided.

Keywords

family relationships wellbeing older Chinese immigrants immigration household

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Acierno

Hernandez

M. A.

Amstadter

A. B.

Resnick

H. S.

Steve

Muzzy

Kilpatrick

D. G.

(2010). Prevalence and Correlates of Emotional, Physical, Sexual, and Financial Abuse and Potential Neglect in the United States: The National Elder Mistreatment Study. American Journal of Public Health, 100(2), 292–297. doi:https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2009.163089

Ageing and Aged Care . (2019). People from diverse backgrounds.

Andrews

G. J.

Chen

Myers

(2014). The ‘taking place’ of health and wellbeing: Towards non-representational theory. Social Science & Medicine, 108, 210–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.02.037

Atkinson

Fuller

Painter

(2012). Wellbeing and place. Ashgate.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) . (2016). 2016 census QuickStats: Gold Coast.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) . (2019). Australia's population by country of birth.

Bai

Lai

D. W. L.

Guo

(2016). Ageism and Depression: Perceptions of Older People as a Burden in China. Journal of Social Issues, 72(1), 26–46. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12154

Baldassar

Baldock

C. V.

Wilding

(2007). Families caring across borders: Migration, ageing and transnational caregiving. Palgrave Macmillan.

Blundell

B. B.

Clare

(2012). Elder abuse in culturally and linguistically diverse communities: Developing best practice. Centre for Vulnerable Children and Families: The University of Western Australia, and Advocare Incorporated.

10.

Blunt

(2005). Cultural geography: cultural geographies of home. Progress in Human Geography, 29(4), 505–515. https://doi.org/10.1191/0309132505ph564pr

11.

Buffel

(2017). Ageing Migrants and the Creation of Home: Mobility and the Maintenance of Transnational Ties. Population, Space and Place, 23(5), Article e1994. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.1994

12.

Chaudhury

Campo

Michael

Mahmood

(2016). Neighbourhood environment and physical activity in older adults. Social Science & Medicine, 149, 104–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.12.011

13.

Ciobanu

R.O.

Fokkema

Nedelcu

(2017). Ageing as a migrant: vulnerabilities, agency and policy implications. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 43(2), 164–181. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183x.2016.1238903

14.

Corbin

Strauss

(2014). Basics of qualitative research: sage.

15.

W. W.

Garcia

(2015). Later Life Migration: Sociocultural Adaptation and Changes in Quality of Life at Settlement Among Recent Older Chinese Immigrants in Canada. Activities, Adaptation & Aging, 39(3), 214–242. https://doi.org/10.1080/01924788.2015.1063330

16.

Dong

Chang

E. S.

(2017). Social Networks among the Older Chinese Population in the USA: Findings from the PINE Study. Gerontology, 63(3), 238–252. https://doi.org/10.1159/000455043

17.

Dong

Chang

E. S.

Wong

Simon

(2012). Perception and negative effect of loneliness in a Chicago Chinese population of older adults. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 54(1), 151–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2011.04.022

18.

Fleuret

Atkinson

(2007). Wellbeing, health and geography: A critical review and research agenda. New Zealand Geographer, 63(2), 106–118. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-7939.2007.00093.x

19.

Gatrell

A.C.

(2013). Therapeutic mobilities: walking and ‘steps’ to wellbeing and health. Health & Place, 22, 98–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2013.04.002

20.

Gilroy

(2007). Taking a Capabilities Approach to Evaluating Supportive Environments for Older People. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 1(3), 343–356. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-007-9025-3

21.

Guo

Stensland

Beck

Dong

(2020). Transition in Older Parent–Adult Child Relations in U.S. Chinese Immigrant Families, The Gerontologist, 60(2), 302–312. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnz146

22.

Guo

Stensland

Dong

Tiwari

(2019). Is Migration at Older Age Associated With Poorer Psychological Well-Being? Evidence from Chinese Older Immigrants in the United States, The Gerontologist, 59(5), 865–876. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gny066

23.

Guo

Liu

Mao

Chi

(2016). Parent–child relationships among older Chinese immigrants: the influence of co-residence, frequent contact, intergenerational support and sense of children's deference. Ageing & Society, 36(7), 1459–1482. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0144686x15000446

24.

EL-E.

Chiu

. (2020). Transnational ageing and “care technologies”: Chinese grandpar enting migrants in Singapore and Sydney. Population, Space and Place, 26(7), Article e2365. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2365

25.

Lui

C. W.

Chui

W. H.

(2007). Veiled entrapment: a study of social isolation of older Chinese migrants in Brisbane, Queensland. Ageing & Society, 27(5), 719–738. doi:https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X07006083

26.

Katz

(2009). Intergenerational family relations and subjective well-being in old age: a cross-national study. European Journal of Ageing, 6(2), 79–90. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-009-0113-0

27.

King

Cela

Fokkema

Vullnetari

(2014). The Migration and Well-Being of the Zero Generation: Transgenerational Care, Grandparenting, and Loneliness amongst Albanian Older People. Population, Space and Place, 20(8), 728–738. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.1895

28.

King

Lulle

Sampaio

Vullnetari

(2017). Unpacking the ageing–migration nexus and challenging the vulnerability trope. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 43(2), 182–198. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183x.2016.1238904

29.

Lai

D. W. L.

(2009). Older Chinese' Attitudes Toward Aging and the Relationship to Mental Health: An International Comparison. Social Work in Health Care, 48(3), 243–259. https://doi.org/10.1080/00981380802591957

30.

Lai

D.W.

Lee

V.W.

Dong

(2019). The Impact of Intergenerational Relationship on Health and Well-Being of Older Chinese Americans. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 67(S3), S557–S563. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.15893

31.

Chong

M. D.

(2012). Transnationalism, Social Wellbeing and Older Chinese Migrants. Graduate Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies, 8(1), 29–44.

32.

W.-W.

Hodgetts

Stolte

(2010). From Early Confucian Texts to Aged Care in China and Abroad Today: The Evolution of Filial Piety and Its Implications. Journal of US-China Public Administration, 7(7), 48–59.

33.

Lin

Bryant

Boldero

Dow

(2015). Older Chinese Immigrants' Relationships With Their Children: A Literature Review From a Solidarity-Conflict Perspective. The Gerontologist, 55(6), 990–1005. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnu004

34.

Lin

Dow

Boldero

Bryant

(2020). Parent–child relationships among older immigrants from mainland China: a descriptive study using the solidarity, conflict, and ambivalence perspectives, Journal of Family Studies, 26(4), 564–579. https://doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2018.1441057

35.

Lin

Haralambous

Pachana

N. A.

Bryant

LoGiudice

Goh

Dow

(2016). Screening for depression and anxiety among older Chinese immigrants living in Western countries: The use of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI). Asia - Pacific Psychiatry, 8(1), 32–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/appy.12191

36.

Liu

L. S.

(2014). A search for a place to call home: Negotiation of home, identity and senses of belonging among new migrants from the People's Republic of China (PRC) to New Zealand. Emotion, Space and Society, 10(1), 18–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2013.01.002

37.

Liu

Mao

Guo

Chi

Dong

(2019). Loss of friends and psychological well-being of older Chinese immigrants. Aging & Mental Health. 25(2), 323–331. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2019.1693967

38.

Russell

(2007). Family care: An exploratory study of experience and expectations among older Chinese immigrants in Australia. Contemporary Nurse, 25(1–2), 31–38. https://doi.org/10.5172/conu.2007.25.1-2.31

39.

Nedelcu

Wyss

(2020), Transnational grandparenting: an introduction. Global Networks, 20(2), 292–307. https://doi-org.libproxy1.nus.edu.sg/10.1111/glob.12249

40.

Phillips

(2006). Quality of life: Concept, policy and practice. Routledge.

41.

Phillips

D. R.

Siu

O. L.

Yeh

A. G. O.

Cheng

K. H. C.

(2008). Informal Social Support and Older Persons’ Psychological Well-Being in Hong Kong. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 23(1), 39–55. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-007-9056-0

42.

Sheng

Settles

B. H.

(2006). Intergenerational Relationships and Elderly Care in China: A Global Perspective. Current Sociology, 54(2), 293–313. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392106056747

43.

Suh

E. E.

Kagan

Strumpf

(2009). Cultural Competence in Qualitative Interview Methods with Asian Immigrants. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 20(2), 194–201. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043659608330059

44.

Shen

Wei

(2006). Leisure Life in Later Years: Differences between Rural and Urban Elderly Residents in China. Journal of Leisure Research, 38(3), 381–397. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.2006.11950084

45.

Tang

Chi

Dong

(2018). Exploring Relationships of Psychological Sense of Community With Self-Rated Health and Depressive Symptoms Among Older Chinese Americans. Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, 4(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1177/2333721418778183

46.

Taylor

B. J.

Killick

O’Brien

Begley

Carter-Anand

(2014). Older People’s Conceptualization of Elder Abuse and Neglect, Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect, 26(3), 223–243. https://doi.org/10.1080/08946566.2013.795881

47.

United Nations . (2019). World population prospects 2019: Highlights.

48.

Wang

(2004). Ritualistic coresidence and the weakening of filial piety practice in rural China. In Ikels

(Ed.), Filial piety: Practice and discourse in contemporary East Asia (pp. 16–33). Stanford: Stanford University Press.

49.

Wang

(2015). Place, Geographical Context and Subjective Well-being: State of Art and Future Directions. In Wang

(Ed.), Mobility, Sociability and Well-being of Urban Living. Springer.

50.

Wang

Zhan

H. J.

(2021) The making of a home in a foreign land: understanding the process of home-making among immigrant Chinese elders in the U.S. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 47(7), 1539–1557. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2019.1673706

51.

Warren

C. A.

Karner

T. X.

(2005). Discovering qualitative methods: Field research, interviews, and analysis. Roxbury.

52.

Wood

Martin

(2019). “I'm a foreigner there”: Landscape, wellbeing and the geographies of home. Health & place, 102274.

53.

Wylie

(2007). Landscape: Key ideas in geography. Routledge.

54.

Liu

Mao

Chi

(2019). Family Relationships, Friend Network, and Worry: A Comparison Among Chinese Older Adults in Immigrant, Transnational, and Nonmigrant Families, Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 28(3), 317–333, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15313204.2017.1344950

55.

Zhang

Salm

van Soest

(2018). The effect of retirement on healthcare utilization: Evidence from China. Journal of Health Economics, 62, 165–177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2018.09.009

56.

Zhan

H. J.

Wang

Fawcett

Fan

(2017). Finding a sense of home across the Pacific in old age – Chinese American senior’s report of life satisfaction in a foreign land. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 32(1), 31–55. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-016-9304-2

57.

Ziegler

Schwanen

(2011). ‘I like to go out to be energised by different people’: an exploratory analysis of mobility and wellbeing in later life. Ageing and Society, 31(5), 758–781. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X10000498