Aging & Social Change: Ninth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

This study considers the main reasons for residential mobility during retirement in France, and the results can be generally applied to other Western countries. These reasons vary according to individuals’ socio-economic characteristics and change with the ageing process. However, our research shows that several factors intersect when the move takes place. Whether residential mobility is a short or a long distance move, it questions the relationships and support with/from relatives. In ageing societies, retirees increasingly take part in intergenerational relationships but the strengthening of autonomy between generations leads to changes. Through their residential mobility, most retirees seek the right distance from their children to reset those solidarities. When their parents are still alive, they seem more inclined to provide support due to their advanced age, whilst at the same time they no longer wish to receive support in their own old age from their own children.