ABSTRACT
The world’s population is ageing in a spatially uneven manner. As explained earlier in this book, much of the spatial variance in macro ageing trends (that is, between regions or groups of countries) can be explained by spatial unevenness in socio-economic development. This spatially uneven manner of ageing is projected to continue as countries continue to move through the phases of the demographic transition(s) at different rates. However, as we discussed in Chapters 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8 much of the spatial variance in ageing trends within countries has been caused by population migration patterns. Through our Australian and UK case studies we illustrated how the migrations of young people, people of working age and elderly people influence the spatial concentrations of older people. We found that while in broad terms each group had different reasons for their migrations (for example, retirees often moved to be near family and support networks, to reduce their cost of living, or to be in higher amenity areas, whereas youth often moved to access education, employment and lifestyle opportunities) all migrations were influenced by both structural and motivational factors. Individuals made decisions to maximise their outcomes (not always economic) within broader institutional, social, political, cultural, environmental and economic parameters. These parameters operated at various, and overlapping, scales.
