Older people who retired abroad were more likely to find their social circles lackluster compared with those who stayed home, but their closest relationships were just as fulfilling.
ADVERTISEMENTPeople who retire abroad are lonelier than those who live out their golden years in their home countries, a new study from the Netherlands suggests.
Moving to a new country in old age can be appealing for many reasons – a better quality of life, lower cost of living, or just enjoying the sun year-round. But it can also mean dealing with a new bureaucratic system, language, and building a social life from scratch.
That could take a toll – and come with health consequences. Older people are particularly vulnerable to loneliness and social isolation, which raise the risk of depression, heart disease, and cognitive decline.
“Migrating abroad around the age of retirement may seem like a fun thing to do,” Esma Betül Savaş, the new study’s lead author and a researcher at the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, told Euronews Health.
“But it’s also important to consider, before moving, the impacts that migrating may have in your life”.
The analysis, published in the journalPsychologyand Aging, looked at two types of loneliness: social loneliness, which is due to a lack of a social network or sense of community, and emotional loneliness from not having intimate ties, like a romantic partner.
The study included about 5,000 Dutch people who were 65 or older and had moved to a new country after they were 50, as well as about 1,300 Dutch retirees who lived in the Netherlands.
People who retired abroad were more likely than those who stayed in the Netherlands to be socially lonely – but they were not at higher risk of emotional loneliness, the study found.
“They are fulfilled in this intimate connection, but then their broader social network is interrupted,” Savaş said.
“We see that they are not satisfied with their social network now in the destination [country], more so than non-migrants”.
That seems to be the result of how strong their ties were in the Netherlands, and how well they adjusted to their adopted homeland.
For example, immigrants who had lost contact with their children or good friends in the Netherlands were lonelier. Meanwhile, those who felt a sense of belonging in their new homes and were in touch with their neighbours were less likely to be lonely.
“We know that moving to a new country, especially at an older age, not all of them know the destination language,” she said. “They may be establishing a network but that might not be as strong as the network they built over the years” at home.
Understanding loneliness
The new findings underscore that loneliness is about more than a lack of social connections. It’s also about the strength of people’s relationships, Savaş said.
In other words, it’s quality over quantity.
ADVERTISEMENTNotably, retirees who moved abroad were more likely to have romantic partners than people who stayed in the Netherlands, the study found.
They also tended to be healthier and wealthier, factors that can protect against loneliness. That made the new findings more surprising.
Who chooses to move abroad for retirement – and how far away they move – could also play a role.
People who retire abroad are more likely to be adventurous and identify with hippie culture than those who stay in the Netherlands, according to prior research from the same team.
ADVERTISEMENTSingle Dutch men are also more likely than couples to retire in countries like Thailand and the Philippines.
In the new study, older people who moved further from the Netherlands were more likely to be emotionally lonely, which could reflect that lack of partnership, Savaş said.
Ultimately, Savaş said older adults considering a move abroad – whether from the Netherlands, Greece, or anywhere else – should try to stay connected with longtime friends and family while they form deeper connections in their new home. It doesn’t hurt to take the plunge with a partner, either.
Loneliness, she said, isn’t just about being single or having an empty social calendar. It’s about a mismatch between the relationships we want and the relationships we have.
ADVERTISEMENT“It’s about expectations, at the end of the day,” she said.
