Older migrants in Luxembourg – care preferences for old age between family and professional services

Based on biographic and qualitative network interviews with first- generation migrants from Portugal, Italy, and Germany, aged now 65 years and older, we reconstruct their preferences for later dependency on long-term care in old age (‘hands-on’ care). We regard the interviewees’ assessment of their situation as ways of achieving agency by taking into consideration the formal and informal options for care. Our results show that older adults’ care preferences are influenced by aspects associated with old age that are not specific for older migrants, and at the same time, by aspects that are strongly connected to the fact of being a migrant such as language, culture, and transnational orientation. We find a clear preference for paid care work. Challenges or even barriers in regards to care homes are related to language and culture, which lead to an anticipation of marginalisation and social isolation inside these institutions. Furthermore, it becomes evident that the different contexts of migration strongly correspond with class- specific social positioning.