What explains the migrant pension penalty?: A systematic review and comprehensive model

Abstract

The number of retired migrants has vastly increased in Western societies and is projected to grow further in the decades ahead. Many of those migrants are more likely than nonmigrants to encounter severe financial hardships during their retirement years, raising the following question: What explains this "migrant pension penalty?" Based on a systematic literature review of 86 articles, this article presents a comprehensive model for understanding the migrant pension penalty. This model is inspired by the life-course framework and shows the most important explanations clustered into four "life course constraints and opportunities." First, there are institutional constraints and opportunities such as pension policies. Second, the economic constraints and opportunities such as incomes throughout the life-trajectory play a role. Third, sociocultural constraints and opportunities such as language skills and cultural norms for saving are an important explanation for the migrant pension penalty. The connections with others such as families and neighbors-known as linked lives-constitute the fourth life-course constraint and opportunity. Based on this comprehensive model, we summarize the scientific knowledge on the migrant pension penalty, identify knowledge gaps, formulate a research agenda, and provide policy implications for reducing the migrant pension penalty.