ABSTRACT
Two decades ago, Warnes (1992a) outlined some theoretical approaches to studying migration and the lifecourse in the UK, prompted mainly by then recent research into migration in later-life. He cited behavioural studies that prompted ‘a reconsideration of the relationship between stages in the life-cycle, or lifecourse, and migration’ (p. 175). This reconsideration had been driven by geographers tending ‘either to dismiss the formulation of the life-cycle or to allow it to stand as definite and timeless’ (p. 177). It has since come to be understood that migration propensity varies by age and/or stage in the lifecourse. This supports Warnes’ argument that the lifecourse provides a useful framework for understanding migration as long as studies acknowledge the time-specific nature of the lifecourse, rather than view it as an essentialised series of life-stages often biased towards (M) odern, Majority-world assumptions.
