13-03-2025
Retirees who move abroad ‘are more likely to feel lonely'
Retired people who move abroad are more likely to feel lonely, a study has warned.
Loneliness can be a 'black spot in paradise' for older people who lack community support, according to Dutch research.
Esma Savaş, of the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, said it is becoming 'increasingly popular' for people to retire overseas.
'On social media you see all the people in Europe sunbathing in Spain, American retirees are moving to Mexico and Japanese retirees to Malaysia,' she added.
Despite them 'generally reporting being happy' abroad, 'they may still face struggles adapting to a new country', she said.
Ms Savaş revealed difficulties can involve reduced contact with family and old friends – including grown up children – as well as forming friendships and connections in their new countries.
To better understand their experiences, Ms Savaş and her colleagues polled 4,995 Dutch retirees living abroad and a comparison group of 1,338 still living in the Netherlands.
To qualify as a retirement migrant, those living abroad had to be older than 65 and to have moved to their new country after turning 50.
The research team asked the participants about their feelings of loneliness, as well as their connections with family, friends and neighbours back home and in their new countries.
The researchers looked at emotional loneliness, which stems from the lack of close friends or a partner, and social loneliness, which stems from a lack of a broader social circle or a sense of community.
The findings showed retirement migrants were 'socially lonelier' than those who remained in their homeland, despite them being, on average, financially better off and healthier than the control group.
But the retirees were not, on average, emotionally lonelier than those who stayed in their home countries.
The researchers claimed this was likely because many people move to a new country with a spouse or partner.
Only retirement migrants who reported that they had lost contact with good friends and family from back home were both socially and emotionally lonelier.
Researchers also found that those who had more contact with neighbours and a higher sense of belonging to their new country reported less social loneliness.
Ms Savas said the study highlights the need for retirees to consider their social support systems if they are thinking of moving abroad.
She added: 'Older adults may face double jeopardy in retiring to a new country as they are vulnerable to both age-related and migration-related risk factors for loneliness and loneliness is itself a risk factor for adverse health outcomes.
'It's important for people considering retirement migration to think about how they can maintain their social ties in their origin country and make new ones in their destination country.'
The study was published in the journal Psychology and Aging.
