PhD position - Mapping Older Migrants’ Family Networks

• Supervisors:

Basak Bilecen (University of Groningen)

Vera de Bel (University of Groningen)

Swantje Falcke (Utrecht University)

• Aim of the project:

The aim of this project is to examine the size, structure and diversity of kinship networks among older migrants in the Netherlands. Using Statistics Netherlands (CBS) microdata, the project will assess how network characteristics and family configurations are associated with older migrants’ health, well-being and loneliness. The project will identify differences across migrant groups and between migrants and non-migrants, and analyse how kinship networks change over time and across institutional contexts. Where the expertise and interests of the candidate allow, the project will be complemented by a qualitative component aimed at understanding how older migrants themselves interpret, navigate and experience their family networks and social ties.

• Project description:

Rationale

Family relationships are vital to mental health across the life course. As individuals age, their social networks tend to contract, particularly in terms of peripheral and friendship ties. However, family networks demonstrate relative stability across the life course, even as their composition may change. The ways in which these kinship networks evolve are not only a matter of the individual life course but are also shaped by institutional contexts. In the Netherlands, changes in social welfare, migration or integration policies may affect the forms and functions of family networks across cohorts and groups. This continuity in familial relationships plays a critical role in later life, providing essential emotional and instrumental support during significant transitions such as retirement and widowhood.

Yet, for some groups, particularly older migrants, access to stable and proximate family support cannot be assumed. Many migrants maintain transnational family networks, with kin dispersed across their countries of origin as well as other destinations, which may limit daily contact and caregiving exchanges. This geographic dispersion, combined with other structural factors, contributes to a heightened risk of social isolation and loneliness among older migrants, as documented in several recent studies. Despite evidence that family ties are crucial for health and well-being, there is a lack of systematic and comparative research on the social networks of the older migrants and non-migrants in the Dutch context. Moreover, little is known about how these networks differ across diverse migrant groups or how they have evolved over time in response to changing conditions within the Dutch reception and integration landscape.

Scope of the Project

The project focuses on older migrants (50+) in the Netherlands, compared systematically to non-migrants and across different migrant groups. The proposed research concerns a quantitative analysis that maps and compares kinship networks and survey sources, using CBS microdata. The quantitative studies focus on the structure of kinship networks (size, composition, density) and the geospatial mapping of kin as well as these aspects’ association with health and well-being, such as loneliness. If the expertise of the PhD candidate allows, a qualitative study will follow on how older migrants perceive, navigate and interpret their networks and vulnerabilities while accounting for differences in migration histories.

Project Deliverables

• The project will generate new insights through a systematic analysis of existing datasets that map the kinship networks of migrants and non-migrants in the Netherlands.
• The project will introduce a comparative typology of family configurations and their implications for health and well-being.
• Depending on the candidate’s expertise and interests, the project will have a mixed-methods toolkit: integration of CBS microdata, network and geospatial analysis and qualitative methods.
• The project will generate policy-relevant insights: identification of vulnerable groups and neighbourhoods for targeted interventions in ageing, welfare and integration.

Connection to Social Cohesion

This PhD project directly contributes to SOCION’s mission of understanding how social cohesion is maintained or undermined in a changing demographic context. Older migrants are a key population in which cohesion is at stake. They often maintain transnational family ties while simultaneously navigating local networks and welfare institutions in their countries of destination. By mapping and comparing kinship networks of migrants and non-migrants, this project investigates how horizontal ties (family, community, neighbourhood) and vertical ties (welfare institutions, custody and care systems, integration policies) interact to produce or erode social cohesion.

• Research design

This project employs a mixed-methods, cross-level research design that integrates quantitative and qualitative approaches to investigate the family networks of older migrants in the Netherlands and their relationship to loneliness. The study combines the use of CBS microdata, including information on kinship networks and health, geospatial mapping and – if feasible – qualitative interviews to provide a multidimensional understanding of how family configurations evolve and operate in later life.

The core of the quantitative analysis will draw on linked CBS microdata, which offers detailed demographic, household and migration-related information at the individual and household levels. Using this data, the project will construct family network typologies that capture both the structure (e.g., size, proximity, intergenerational ties) and spatial distribution (e.g., geographic dispersion or co-residence) of networks among older migrants and their non-migrant counterparts. Geospatial mapping will further enrich the analysis by highlighting regional or urban–rural variations in network configurations and their correlation with health and well-being outcomes, such as loneliness indicators.

To deepen the analysis and validate the patterns observed in the quantitative data, a small number of qualitative interviews may be conducted, focusing on the lived experiences of older migrants in navigating family ties, emotional support and social embeddedness.

A key innovation of the project lies in its historical and comparative lens. By comparing across migrant groups with different arrival cohorts and legal pathways, the project explores how varied migration histories have shaped family networks over time. This approach allows for a better understanding of how structural factors – such as integration regimes, housing policies and welfare access – interact with personal and cultural norms to influence later-life loneliness.

• Core readings

Fokkema, T., & Ciobanu, R. O. (2021). Older migrants and loneliness: Scanning the field and looking forward. European Journal of Ageing, 18(3), 291–297.

Wrzus, C., Hänel, M., Wagner, J., & Neyer, F. J. (2013). Social network changes and life events across the life span: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 139(1), 53–80.