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PurposeLarge numbers of Northern European retirees have migrated to Southern European countries. A relevant part of this migration is not driven by work purposes but rather the desire to establish residence in a warmer country. These migrants come from different countries and exhibit diverse socioeconomic characteristics and preferences, including varying income levels, housing tastes and cultural habits, which could potentially influence the housing market in their host countries. This paper aims to examine the permanent impact of retiree migrant flows on house prices in Alicante, Spain, from 1988 to 2019, explicitly considering the impact related to the country of origin.Design/methodology/approachThis paper examines the permanent impact of retiree migrant flows on house prices in Alicante, Spain, from 1988 to 2019, explicitly considering the impact related to the country of origin using panel cointegration – Dynamic Ordinary Least Squared (DOLS) models.FindingsResults indicate that the long-term relationship captures the entire effect on house price change and that prices react immediately to the immigrants' presence with permanent effects. The results also suggest that the strong retiree migration flow created a shock in the housing market with different effects on house prices related to the immigrants' country of origin. The model identifies that when income growth in the origin country is slower than in Spain it has a major impact on house prices. When purchasing capacity is larger in Alicante than in the origin country it exerts a stronger effect on housing prices. Retiree migration flow has permanent effect on housing market prices.Practical implicationsResults indicate several ways to act on social and housing policies in specific cities in Alicante province, as well as in the origin countries, to alleviate potential disadvantages faced by expatriate retirees.Originality/valueThis paper finds evidence of the specific impact of international retiree migrants on the hosting housing market. This study is the first paper that can estimate the specific effect on housing prices from a flow of retiree migrants by country of origin.

Background In multiple sclerosis (MS), half of affected people are unemployed within 10 years of diagnosis. The aim of this study was to assess the economic impact of MS in adult subjects with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) and primary progressive MS (PPMS). Methods A multicenter, non-interventional, cross-sectional study was conducted. The Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) and the 23-item Multiple Sclerosis Work Difficulties Questionnaire (MSWDQ-23) were used to assess disability and work performance, respectively. Only indirect costs were considered using the human capital method, including work costs. Professional support costs and informal caregivers’ costs were also estimated. Results A total of 199 subjects were studied (mean age: 43.9 ± 10.5 years, 60.8% female, 86.4% with RRMS). Median EDSS score was 2.0 (interquartile range: 1.0–3.5) and median MSWDQ-23 total score was 31.5 (15.2, 50.0). The number of employed subjects decreased after MS diagnosis from 70.6 to 47.2%, and the number of retired people increased (23.6%). Mean age of retirement was 43.6 ± 10.5 years. Ten percent of the population had sick leaves (absenteeism was seen in 90.9% of the student population and 30.9% of the employed population). Professional support in their daily life activities was needed in 28.1% of subjects. Costs for sick leave, work absenteeism, premature retirement and premature work disability/pensioner were €416.6 ± 2030.2, €763.4 ± 3161.8, €5810.1 ± 13,159.0 and €1816.8 ± 9630.7, respectively. Costs for professional support and informal caregiving activities were €1026.93 ± 4622.0 and €1328.72, respectively. Conclusions MS is responsible for a substantial economic burden due to indirect and informal care costs, even in a population with low physical disability.

Background Research has generally found a significant inverse relationship in mortality risk across socioeconomic (SE) groups. This paper focuses on Spain, a country for which there continues to be very little evidence available concerning retirement pensioners. We draw on the Continuous Sample of Working Lives (CSWL) to investigate disparities in SE mortality among retired men aged 65 and above over the longest possible period covered by this data source: 2005–2018. We use the initial pension income (PI) level as our single indicator of the SE status of the retired population. Methods The mortality gradient by income is quantified in two ways: via an indicator referred to as “relative mortality”, and by estimating changes in total life expectancy (LE) by PI level at ages 65 and 75 over time. We show that, should the information provided by the relative mortality ratio not be completely clear, a second indicator needs to be introduced to give a broad picture of the true extent of inequality in mortality. Results The first indicator reveals that, for the period covered and for all age groups, the differences in death rates across PI levels widens over time. At older age groups, these differences across PI levels diminish. The second indicator shows that disparities in LE at ages 65 and 75 between pensioners in the lowest and highest income groups are relatively small, although slightly higher than previously reported for Spain. This gap in LE widens over time, from 1.49 to 2.54 years and from 0.71 to 1.40 years respectively for pensioners aged 65 and 75. These differences are statistically significant. Conclusions Along with other behavioral and structural aspects, a combination of factors such as the design of the pension system, the universality and quality of the health system, and high levels of family support could explain why LE inequalities for retired Spanish men are relatively small. To establish the reasons for this increased inequality in LE, more research needs to be carried out. An analysis of all Spanish social security records instead of just a sample would provide us with more information.

This article addresses the emerging issue of migration from cities to the countryside, a trend which increased and became more evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, this study follows the population growth of Mapuche communities in southern Chile. It proposes that this migration pattern represents a medium-term pendular historical phenomenon; decades after the initial Mapuche exodus to cities in Chile and Argentina in the 1960s and 1970s, families and individuals have decided to return to live permanently on community lands. This study utilized official Mapuche community resources and interviews with public officials, experts, community members, and Mapuche leaders. This article highlights a very important historical phenomenon, as return migration generates changes in the communities and the southern landscape, as well as posing challenges for the rural world. In some cases, the recent return migration has generated substantial occupation changes for the migrants, resulting in a change from urban to rural activities. In other cases, individuals and families have returned to live in the community but maintained jobs in nearby cities, or have retired.

To test the heterogeneity of the effect of a change in pharmaceutical cost-sharing by therapeutic groups in a Spanish region. Data: random sample (provided by the Canary Islands Health Service) of 40,471 people covered by the Spanish National Health System (SNHS) in the Canary Islands. The database includes individualised monthly-dispensed medications (prescribed by the SNHS) from one year before (August 2011) to one year after (June 2013) the Royal Decree Law 16/2012 (RDL 16/2012). Sample: two intervention groups (low-income pensioners and middle-income working population) and one control group (low-income working population). Empirical model: quasi-experimental difference-in-differences design to study the change in consumption (measured in number of monthly Defined Daily Dose (DDDs) per individual) among 13 therapeutic groups. The policy break indicator (three-level categorical variable) tested the existence of stockpiling between the reform's announcement and its implementation. We ran 16 linear regression models (general, by therapeutic groups and by comorbidities) that considered whether the exclusion of some drugs from public provision impacted on consumption more than the co-payment increase. General: Reduction (-13.04) in consumption after the reform's implementation, which was fully compensated by a previous increase (16.60 i.e., stockpiling) among low-income pensioners. The middle-income working population maintained its trend of increasing consumption. Therapeutic groups: Reductions in consumption after the reform's implementation among low-income pensioners in 7 of the 13 groups, which were fully compensated for by a previous increase (i.e., stockpiling) in 4 groups and partially compensated for in the remaining 3. The analysis without the excluded medicines provided fewer negative coefficients. Comorbidities: Reduction in consumption that was only slightly compensated for by a previous increase (i.e., stockpiling). The negative impact of cost-sharing produced, among low-income pensioners, a risk of loss of adherence to treatments, which could deteriorate the health status of individuals, especially among pensioners within the most inelastic therapeutic groups (associated with chronic diseases) and patients with comorbidities (also, associated with chronic diseases). Notwithstanding the above, this risk was more related to the exclusion of some drugs from provision than to the cost-sharing increase.

Volunteering is a ubiquitous and distinct feature of the British retired community in Spain, and for many older migrants volunteering constitutes a significant part of their post-retirement life abroad. Especially in the management and organisation of health and age-related problems voluntary organisations have come to play a crucial role not only for the British community but also for the Spanish host society and public health-care system. Furthermore, volunteering represents a valuable sphere of activity offering personal benefits for those who are actively engaged. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a charity organisation in the province of Alicante on the northern Costa Blanca, this paper examines the extensive functions that volunteering and charitable activities can offer British older migrants. The implementation of voluntary work within the specific context of retirement migration is identified as a multi-functional individual and societal resource. Volunteering for the retirees is described as a true means of adaptation to a new life context, and as a highly reflexive strategy of risk minimisation and self-realisation. This implies individual benefits and opens up possibilities of active ageing. Finally, volunteering will be analysed as a performative expression of transmigrants' cultural bifocality, reflecting both a high level of commitment to Spain as well as a specific feature of British community spirit and traditionalism.

Understanding the motives that underlie Spaniards’ retirement saving decisions is important because many, if not most, future retirees will need to rely on personal savings to maintain a decent standard of living. The governor of the Bank of Spain has stated recently that the current public pension system will not guarantee an adequate pension to the citizens, advising to save now for retirement. In this debate on public pensions, and the complementary role that private pensions might play in Spain, this article has shed light on the decision of Spanish households to engage in individual pension plans and it has identified which factors determine the total amount saved in such retirement plans. Using micro data from the Bank of Spain ( Survey of Household Finances 2011 ), the analysis has revealed that the expectations of lower future income, along with preferences for the financial risk and education, exert an important influence on the likelihood of enrolling in a private pension plan. University education minimizes the myopic behavior of households in the sense of making them more forward-looking and cautious in the face of their future well-being. Additionally using Heckman’s methodology to correct for the problem of selection bias, our results have revealed that liquidity constraints affect negatively the total amount of money saved for retirement.