In Cuba, the number of older people in need of care is increasing rapidly. At the same time, many younger people are leaving the country in search of a better life. This article focuses on these two processes by asking how care for older people is organized when (some) children live abroad. It shows that in the absence of an adequate public old age care infrastructure, a private market for home-based old age care has emerged. This development is linked to the sending of remittances and may potentially exacerbate social inequalities between older people receiving and not receiving money from abroad.
Acosta, E. (2020) Crisis de cuidados, envejecimiento y políticas de bienestar en Cuba [Care crisis, aging, and welfare policies in Cuba], Fondo de Publicaciones de la Escuela de Política y Relaciones Internacionales, Universidad Sergio Arboleda.
Acosta, E., Picasso, F. and Perrotta, V. (2018) Cuidados en la Vejez en América Latina. Los Casos de Chile, Cuba y Uruguay [Old Age Care in Latin America. The Cases of Chile, Cuba, and Uruguay], Santiago de Chile: Fundación Konrad Adenauer.
Ahlin, T. (2018) Only near is dear? Doing elderly care with everyday ICTs in Indian transnational families, Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 32(1): 85–102. doi: 10.1111/maq.12404
Aja Díaz, A., Rodríguez Soriano, M.O., Orosa Busutil, R. and Albizu-Campos Espiñeira, J.C. (2017) La migración internacional de cubanos. Escenarios actuales [The international migration of Cubans: current scenarios], Revista Novedades en Población, 13(26): 40–57.
Álvarez Suárez, M. (2015) Políticas públicas de cuidado con corresponsabilidad [Public policies of care with co-responsibility], Revista Novedades en Población, 11(21): 130–6.
Álvarez Suárez, M. and Más Zurita, L. (2011) Estrategias Familiares Para el Cuidado de los Adultos Mayores [Family Strategies for the Care of Older Adults], La Habana, Cuba: CEM-FMC.
Antman, F.M. (2012) Elderly care and intrafamily resource allocation when children migrate, Journal of Human Resources, 47(2): 331–63. doi: 10.1353/jhr.2012.0011
Baldassar, L. and Merla, L. (2013) Locating transnational care circulation in migration and family studies, in L. Baldassar and L. Merla (eds) Transnational Families, Migration and the Circulation of Care, New York: Routledge, pp 41–74.
Baldassar, L., Baldock, C.V. and Wilding, R. (2007) Families Caring Across Borders: Migration, Ageing and Transnational Caregiving, New York: Springer.
Bastia, T., Valenzuela, C.C. and Pozo, M.E. (2020) The consequences of migration for the migrants’ parents in Bolivia, Global Networks, 21(2): 393–412. doi: 10.1111/glob.12276
Bengtson, V. (2018) Global Aging and Challenges to Families, New York: Routledge.
Bloom, D.E. and Luca, D.L. (2016) The global demography of aging: facts, explanations, future, in J. Piggott and A. Woodland (eds) Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp 3–56.
Bolzman, C. (2021) Linked lives, dividing borders: from transnational solidarity to family reunification of an older parent, in M. Repetti, T. Calasanti and C. Phillipson (eds) Ageing and Migration in a Global Context, Cham: Springer, pp 97–111.
Brandhorst, R.M. (2017) “A lo lejos”—aging in place and transnational care in the case of transnational migration between Cuba and Germany, Transnational Social Review, 7(1): 56–72. doi: 10.1080/21931674.2016.1277855
Coe, C. (2017) Transnational migration and the commodification of eldercare in urban Ghana, Identities, 24(5): 542–56. doi: 10.1080/1070289x.2017.1346510
Conkova, N., Vullnetari, J., King, R. and Fokkema, T. (2019) “Left like stones in the middle of the road”: narratives of aging alone and coping strategies in rural Albania and Bulgaria, The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 74(8): 1492–500. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gby127
Destremau, B. (2019) “Envejecer bien es envejecer en su familia”. Tensiones y transformaciones de la economía moral del cuidado en Cuba [“Aging well is aging within one’s family”. Tensions and transformations of the moral economy of care in Cuba], Revista Intervención, 9(2): 25–44. doi: 10.53689/int.v9i2.80
Díaz-Briquets, S. (2015) Measures to deal with an aging population: international experiences and lessons for Cuba, Annual Proceedings of The Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy, 25: 270–5.
Díaz Gorfinkiel, M. and Escrivá, A. (2012) Care of older people in migration contexts: local and transnational arrangements between Peru and Spain, Social Politics, 19(1): 129–41. doi: 10.1093/sp/jxr028
Dossa, P. and Coe, C. (2017) Transnational Aging and Reconfigurations of kin Work, New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Echevarría León, D., Rojas Piedrahita, M. and Tejuca Martínez, M. (2019) Género y trabajo: puntos ciegos de las políticas de empleo en Cuba [Gender and work: blind spots in employment policies in Cuba], Revista Estudios del Desarrollo Social: Cuba y América Latina, 7(3).
Francisco-Menchavez, V. (2018) The Labor of Care: Filipina Migrants and Transnational Families in the Digital Age, Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.
García Quiñones, R. (2019) Cuba: envejecimiento, dinámica familiar y cuidados [Cuba: aging, family dynamics, and care], Revista Novedades en Población, 15(29): 129–40.
Gross Gutiérrez, A. and Peña Farias, A.I. (2018) La Política del Cuidado en Cuba. Retos y Perspectivas para un Diseño Multiactoral de Cuidado con énfasis en los Adultos Mayores [The Care Policy in Cuba: Challenges and Perspectives for a Multi-Actor Care Design with Emphasis on Older Adults], Vol 286, La Habana: Universidad de La Habana, pp 155–70.
Guitart, S.O. and Mayola, J.C.I. (2021) Trabajo y Justicia Social. Desafíos Para el Cuidado de Adultos Mayores en Cuba [Work and Social Justice. Challenges for the Care of Older Adults in Cuba], Santo Domingo: Federación Friedrich Ebert.
Hansing, K. and Hoffmann, B. (2020) When racial inequalities return: assessing the restratification of Cuban society 60 years after revolution, Latin American Politics and Society, 62(2): 29–52, www.cambridge.org/core/journals/latin-american-politics-and-society/article/when-racial-inequalities-return-assessing-the-restratification-of-cuban-society-60-years-after-revolution/6663B32E55E0C32FD527FF4EAF1616E1. doi: 10.1017/lap.2019.59
Horn, V. (2019) Aging Within Transnational Families: The Case of Older Peruvians, New York: Anthem Press.
Horn, V., Schweppe, C., Böcker, A. and Brusquetas Callejo, M. (2021) The Global Old-Age Care Industry: Tapping into Migrants for Tackling the Old Age Care Crisis, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hromadžić, A. and Palmberger, M. (2018) Care Across Distance: Ethnographic Explorations of Aging and Migration, New York: Berghahn Books.
Kalavar, J.M., Zarit, S.H. and Ferraccio, B.J. (2015) Transnational support of Asian Indian elderly in India: examining patterns of exchanges, Care Management Journals, 16(3): 141–9. doi: 10.1891/1521-0987.16.3.141
King, R. and Vullnetari, J. (2006) Orphan pensioners and migrating grandparents: the impact of mass migration on older people in rural Albania, Ageing & Society, 26(5): 783–816. doi: 10.1017/s0144686x06005125
Kurt, R. (2004) Hermeneutik. Eine Sozialwissenschaftliche Einführung, Stuttgart: UTB.
Martín Fernández, C. (2021) Connotación social de la migración en Cuba: percepciones, causas y consecuencias [Social connotation of migration in Cuba: perceptions, causes, and consequences], Revista Novedades en Población, 17(33): 101–18.
Mazzucato, V. (2008) Transnational reciprocity: Ghanaian migrants and the care of their parents back home, in E. Alber, S. Van Der Geest and S.R. Whyte (eds) Generations in Africa: Connections and Conflicts, Münster: LIT Verlag, pp 111–33.
Merla, L. (2015) Salvadoran migrants in Australia: an analysis of transnational families’ capability to care across borders, International Migration, 53(6): 153–65. doi: 10.1111/imig.12024
Molina, G.F. (2021) América Latina: derecho del trabajo y pospandemia. Comentarios sobre lo acontecido en Cuba [Latin America: labor law and post-pandemic. Comments on the events in Cuba], Revista Iberoamericana de Derecho del Trabajo y de la Seguridad Social, 3(6): 74–87.
Morales, E. (2018) The importance of remittances in the Cuban economy, www.thehavanaconsultinggroup.com/en-Us/Articles/Article/68?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1.
Morales, E. (2019) Remittances, an investment route for Cubans?, Havana Consulting Group, September 27, www.thehavanaconsultinggroup.com/en-Us/Articles/Article/69.
Moré, P. (2022) Migration, ageing and transnational care arrangements of Ecuadorian care workers in Spain, Population, Space and Place, 28(5): e2547.
Oficina Nacional de Estadística e Información República de Cuba (2019) Encuesta Nacional de Envejecimiento de la Población. ENEP-2017 [National survey of population aging], Informe Resultados, September.
Oficina Nacional de Estadística e Información República de Cuba (2021) Salario Medio en Cifras. Enero–Diciembre 2021 [Average salary in figures. January–December], Edición 2022, www.onat.gob.cu/storage/downloads/publicacion_salario_medio_en_cifras._2021_1659029557.pdf.
Portelles, J. (2021) Envejecer y emigrar en Cuba: transición demográfica y desafíos [Aging and emigration in Cuba: demographic transition and challenges], Foro Cubano-Divulgación, 4(38).
Rico, R.R. (2018) Diferencias de género en la migración interna hacia La Habana durante la segunda mitad del siglo XX [Gender differences in internal migration to La Havana during the second half of the 20th century], Revista Internacional de Estudios Migratorios, 8(2): 195–222. doi: 10.25115/riem.v8i2.2318
Rodríguez, J.L. (2015) Cuba: desempeño económico en 2014 y proyecciones para 2015 [Cuba: economic performance in 2014 and projections for 2015], www.cubadebate.cu/opinion/2015/01/07/cuba-desempeno-economico-en-2014-y-proyecciones-para-2015-i/.
Romero Almodóvar, M. (2014) De lo Simbólicamente Exacto a lo Simbólicamente Verdadero. Domésticas y Revolución en Cuba: Entre Cambios y Desafíos [From Symbolically Accurate to Symbolically True: Domestic Workers and Revolution in Cuba: between Changes and Challenges], Buenos Aires: CLACSO.
Romero Almodóvar, M. (2016) El Trabajo Doméstico Remunerado a Domicilio en Cuba: un Estudio de Caso en Miramar [Paid Domestic Work in Cuba: A Case Study in Miramar], La Habana: Editorial Universitaria.
Romero Almodóvar, M. and Ávila Vargas, N. (2019) El envejecimiento poblacional y los desafíos para el cuidado en Cuba [Population aging and challenges for care in Cuba], Alternativas, 20(3): 16–22. doi: 10.23878/alternativas.v20i3.321
Romero Almodóvar, M. and Rodriguez Moya, A.D. (2020) La Organización Social de Cuidados en Cuba [The Social Organization of Care in Cuba], Santo Domingo: Fundación Friedrich Ebert.
Schröder-Butterfill, E. (2022) Emigration and the care of older people “left behind”: the changing role of neighbourhood networks, ethnicity and civil society, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 48(15): 3561–79. doi: 10.1080/1369183x.2021.2009783
Statista (2022) Migrationssaldo für Kuba bis 2020 [Net migration for Cuba until 2020], https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/473681/umfrage/migrationssaldo-kuba/.
Ting, W.C. and Ho, E.L.E. (2022) Care circulations between Singapore and Myanmar: balancing eldercare work abroad with care for ageing parents back home, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 48(15): 3743–60. doi: 10.1080/1369183x.2021.1873111
Trabajadores (Organo de la central de trabajadores de Cuba) (2021) Trabajo por cuenta propia en Cuba entre oportunidades y retos [Self-employment in Cuba: between opportunities and challenges], www.Trabajadores.cu/20210809/trabajo-por-cuenta-propia-en-cuba-entre-oportunidades-y-retos.
Treas, J. (2008) Transnational older adults and their families, Family Relations, 57(4): 468–78. doi: 10.1111/j.1741-3729.2008.00515.x
Turtós Carbonell, L.B., Rodríguez Rosa, Y., Rodríguez Abreu, Y., and Omar Martínez, E. (2016) Caracterización demográfica de cuidadores informales de ancianos con ictus y demencias en Santiago de Cuba [Demographic characterization of informal caregivers of older individuals with stroke and dementia in Santiago de Cuba], Encuentros, 14(2): 61–72.
United Nations (2019) World population prospects 2019, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 141.
Van der Geest, S., Mul, A. and Vermeulen, H. (2004) Linkages between migration and the care of frail older people: observations from Greece, Ghana and The Netherlands, Ageing & Society, 24(3): 431–50.
Vea, H.D.B., Lauzarique, M.E.A., Piñero, J.S.P., Rodríguez, K.A., Cabrera, A.R., Barros, M.D.C.P. and Martín, A.C. (2018) Enfoques, evolución y afrontamiento del envejecimiento demográfico en Cuba [Approaches, developments, and coping with demographic aging in Cuba], Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, 42: e21.
Vianello, F.A. (2016) International migrations and care provisions for elderly people left behind. The cases of the Republic of Moldova and Romania, European Journal of Social Work, 19(5): 779–94. doi: 10.1080/13691457.2015.1085367
Zhou, Y.R. (2013) Toward transnational care interdependence: rethinking the relationships between care, immigration and social policy, Global Social Policy, 13(3): 280–98. doi: 10.1177/1468018113499573
Zontini, E. and Reynolds, T. (2007) Ethnicity, families and social capital: caring relationships across Italian and Caribbean transnational families, International Review of Sociology—Revue Internationale de Sociologie, 17(2): 257–77. doi: 10.1080/03906700701357042
May 2022 onwards | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 570 | 493 | 43 |
Full Text Views | 343 | 323 | 6 |
PDF Downloads | 203 | 173 | 4 |
Institutional librarians can find more information about free trials here