Residential Relocation and Regional Redistribution of the Elderly in the USA and Germany

This paper reviews some of the principal differences and similarities in the micgration and spatial redistribution behavior of the older populations of the USA and of Germany. The German situation has changed quite dramatically in recent years, as the consolidation of the former German Democratic Republic into the Federal Republic of Germany has altered the size, age structure, and, of particular interest here, the potential paths of population redistribution. The paper is divided into three distinct parts. The paper first reviews actual and prospective redistribution of the older population, with regard to interregional shifts of population as well as to changes in concentration along an urban-rural continuum. Following these macroscopic elements, the paper then moves to a presentation of the results of two ex post facto surveys (one taken in the USA and the other in Germany) of recent older movers in order to compare the motivations expressed for the move and the present degree of satisfaction with it. The concluding section considers the implications of redistribution at both geographic levels and of mover satisfaction in light of political developments as they are presently unfolding in Europe.