Transnational healthcare seeking: How ageing Taiwanese return migrants view homeland public benefits

Chih-Yan SUN*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this article, I argue that, by offering ageing return migrants new opportunities both to organize their lives and to rethink their social attachments, the extension of public healthcare in Taiwan constitutes a new contextual feature of the transnational social field bridging Taiwan and the USA. I use the concept of 'transnational healthcare seeking' to describe how returning seniors try to maintain their physical, psychological and social well-being by accessing the benefits of public healthcare available in their homeland rather than in the USA. Furthermore, I offer the concept of 'logics of social right' to demonstrate how older returnees seek to reconfirm their social commitment to their homeland and to defend their entitlement to its state-provided benefits against public criticism that they are free riders. In so doing, this article contributes a nuanced understanding of how ageing migrants imagine, pursue and construct an ideal later life across national borders.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)533-550
Number of pages18
JournalGlobal Networks
Volume14
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Social Sciences(all)

User-Defined Keywords

  • Ageing
  • Healthcare
  • Return migrant
  • Rights
  • Taiwan
  • Transnationalism

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