"Going home" or "leaving home"? The impact of person and place ties on anticipated counterstream migration

Abstract

Purpose: The probability of anticipated return migration in retirees is explored. Design and Methods: Survey data were analyzed from interviews with a sample of elderly European Americans who migrated to a metropolitan city on Florida's east coast following retirement. Results: Results are consistent with the specification of the 2nd move in E. Litwak and C. F. Longino's (1987) life course model of retirement migration. Respondents were unlikely to anticipate a return move unless ties to the back home community made such a move possible. Implications: Ties with children, both back home and in Florida, significantly influence consideration of a return move.