Ageing in motion: An exploration of the ageing situation of the first generation of Chinese migrants and generational interactions

Ageing and migration are two significant global demographic phenomena that are increasingly intertwined and evolving in complex ways. While the intersections of ageing and migration have received broad theoretical attention, the heterogeneity and complexity of ageing migrants’ experiences remain insufficiently addressed. This thesis examines the lived experiences of ageing among Chinese first-generation rural–urban migrants—a group that is largely underrepresented in academic and policy discourse, despite their substantial contributions to family and society. Focusing on older migrants engaged in informal sectors, it asks: What challenges do they encounter, and what plans and expectations shape their lives amid ongoing social transformations?
Drawing on ethnographic methods—including participant observation, mobile ethnography, and go-along chats, as well as interviews—this research illustrates the complex inter- and intra-generational dynamics that span urban and rural spaces. It extends the spatial and relational scale of householding analysis and centres older people within these practices.
The study critically engages with and extends the existing literature on ageing, migration, and translocal householding, offering a nuanced understanding of intergenerational interactions and support. Drawing on the intersecting analytical perspectives of translocal householding, situated ageing, and compounded precarity, this thesis contributes to existing literature on migration and ageing by addressing the entanglements of vulnerabilities and precarities of older migrants. At the same time, it highlights the vital, yet often overlooked, contributions these migrants make to sustaining households across spatial and generational divides.
By foregrounding situated ageing and introducing the lens of compounded precarity, the thesis offers both methodological and conceptual innovation, bridging ageing and migration studies. It reveals how older migrants sustain translocal ties, navigate urban marginality, and reconfigure intergenerational roles amid structural constraints and personal aspirations.