Geographic Labor Markets, Aging and Migration: A Panoramic Perspective

Older population cohorts above the age of 65 are growing disproportionally to younger cohorts generally, and more specifically at the level of subnational regions, although this general trend is heterogeneous across regions (Guerin et al. 2015 and UNICEF 2015). At the same time that aging is on the increase, another demographic process, migration, is transforming or moulting qualitatively and itself scaling up. Today, many migration movements are episodic and thus more unstable than in the past (e.g., from famines, war, political turbulence and natural disasters), as illustrated by the growth of return, circular and temporary or chain migration. In fact, at the same time these growing and emerging types of migration are occurring the distinction between migration and commuting is blurring, e.g., those who are commuting across continents and intercontinentally might also be viewed as temporary migrants. As with aging, there are great differentials in the manifestation of these processes across places, regions and nations and in turn in their impact on regional labor markets. This chapter introduces the theme of the book and outlines its aims, scope and structure