Perspektiva životnog puta u istraživanjima starenja i migracija
Research on Aging and Migration from the Perspective of Life-Course

Summary/Abstract: A life-course perspective is a complex approach to researching the life of an individual or group or certain processes used in various disciplines (Börsch-Supan et al., 2013), especially in sociology, demography, psychology, and economics. The life course perspective seeks to connect the historical context that determines an individual’s life with personal history (key events of his or her life) (Edmonston, 2013; Holman and Walker, 2020). The paper explains the differences among how the life-course perspective, lifecycle perspective and life-span perspective approach research topics. More specifically, this paper aims to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of research on aging (quality of life of older people) and migration (quality of life of migrants) from the perspective of life course by reviewing some of the most important papers addressing it, both theoretically and/or practically. In the first of the five chapters of the paper, Introduction, the author explains why the perspective of life course is an interesting research approach to selected topics in Croatia. Together with the other countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Croatia has experienced a strong increase in the share of the elderly population and significant migration in the last thirty or so years. The major causes of accelerated demographic aging are an increase in life expectancy and a decrease in fertility. The main causes of migration are significant political, social and economic changes in the “old” and “new” EU countries. These are changes in the socio-political and economic systems of the former socialist countries on the one hand, and the expansion of the EU resulting in the opening of the labour market and the possibility of “new” labour migration within Europe on the other. Due to the wars in the Middle East, there is also the issue of dealing with large refugee waves.

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