Intergenerational living among immigrant families: moving beyond the panacea

At the 2023 Canadian Sociological Association (CSA) Conference, Alexa Carson presented “Intergenerational living among immigrant families: moving beyond the panacea.” Based on 15 in-depth interviews with seniors and family caregivers from Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries living in the greater Toronto area, this study uncovers three preliminary themes: (1) some seniors resist intergenerational living, preferring to remain downtown close to culturally relevant community and services (2) cohabitation arrangements do not always provide sufficient care, in ways structured by gender and (3) lack of access to appropriate, affordable housing can act as a barrier to intergenerational living.

Alexa Carson is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto. She has a Master’s in International Development Studies from Dalhousie University and is the co-author of a book exploring youth homelessness in Canada.

Abstract

Issues of housing and senior care are deeply entwined. Currently, Canada faces crises on both fronts: it has a long-term care system ill-equipped to support our aging population, alongside an acute shortage of affordable housing. While these crises effect all Canadian seniors, they have a particular impact on immigrant seniors and their family members. These families have a higher propensity to cohabitate multi-generationally, an arrangement often romanticized as an ideal form of senior care and a partial solution to housing and LTC crises. However, my research shows that immigrant decision-making about intergenerational living is neither uncomplicated nor independent of factors related to the shortage of quality care services and affordable housing. Based on 15 in-depth interviews with seniors and family caregivers from Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries living in the greater Toronto area, this study uncovers three preliminary themes: (1) some seniors resist intergenerational living, preferring to remain downtown close to culturally relevant community and services (2) cohabitation arrangements do not always provide sufficient care, in ways structured by gender (3) lack of access to appropriate, affordable housing can act as a barrier to intergenerational living. Migration affects social reproductive arrangements and cultural care preferences in complex ways, both reinforcing and challenging gender norms and patriarchal relations (Dreby and Schmalzbauer 2013; Hagan 1998; Hondagneu-Sotelo 1992; Man and Chou 2019). This paper applies an intersectional lens to the phenomena of family care, aging, and migration to provide a nuanced understanding of how and why LAC immigrant families make choices about and sense of their senior care and living arrangements; and how this is structured not only by gender, but also by socioeconomic status (Mendez-Luck and Anthony 2016; Vallejo 2021). Additionally, intersectionality helps to move beyond white, middle-class policy biases regarding elder care (Johnson et al. 2018; Luhtanen and Braganza 2009).