- The study highlights their vulnerability to financial shocks due to limited access to social safety nets
- Experts found noncitizens often resort to individualised and relational coping strategies
- It’s part of an ongoing study into the financial and other precarities faced by older noncitizens.
A study by experts at Aston University has been released as part of the UK’s Talk Money week (6-11 November), offering critical insights into the financial wellbeing of older noncitizens in the West Midlands. The study highlights their vulnerability to financial shocks due to limited access to social safety nets, including welfare support.
It showed that only a small number possessed an active pension, leaving many without a safety net for later life.
The research, conducted by the Centre for Personal Financial Wellbeing, found that noncitizens often resort to individualised and relational coping strategies to navigate their financial challenges.
Individualised strategies involve engaging in various forms of work to bolster financial security, albeit often in precarious work conditions.
Relational strategies entail relying on family members or close friends for financial or other resources, though some noncitizens face additional cross-national financial responsibilities, exacerbating their financial vulnerabilities.
This research is part of an ongoing study into the financial and other precarities faced by older noncitizens.
Dr Katie Tonkiss, a senior lecturer in sociology and policy who led the project, said:
“These strategies, while not unique to noncitizens, emerge as a direct response to their restricted access to welfare support due to their immigration status.
“Notably, noncitizens recognise that obtaining citizenship status could enhance their financial security, but the associated costs remain too high.
“This situation leaves them trapped in a precarious financial predicament, potentially worsening in their later years.
To find out more about the findings, click here.
- Notes to Editors
For over a century, Aston University’s enduring purpose has been to make our world a better place through education, research and innovation, by enabling our students to succeed in work and life, and by supporting our communities to thrive economically, socially and culturally.
Aston University’s history has been intertwined with the history of Birmingham, a remarkable city that once was the heartland of the Industrial Revolution and the manufacturing powerhouse of the world.
Born out of the First Industrial Revolution, Aston University has a proud and distinct heritage dating back to our formation as the School of Metallurgy in 1875, the first UK College of Technology in 1951, gaining university status by Royal Charter in 1966, and becoming The Guardian University of the Year in 2020.
Building on our outstanding past, we are now defining our place and role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (and beyond) within a rapidly changing world.
For media inquiries in relation to this release, contact Sam Cook, Press and Communications Manager, on (+44) 7446 910063 or email: s.cook2@aston.ac.uk
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