PhD Studentship (3 years): Migration and Financial Wellbeing in Later Life

Applications are invited for a three-year PhD studentship, supported by the College of Business and Social Sciences to be undertaken within the Department for Sociology and Policy at Aston University.

The position is available to start in January 2025.

Financial Support

This studentship includes a fee bursary to cover the home or overseas fees rate, plus a maintenance allowance of £19,237 per year for the full 3 year programme. 

Background to the Project

Populations – particularly in the Global North – are ageing, following decades of increased migration. Because not all people on the move will have secured citizenship status where they have settled, increasing numbers of people will be without citizenship of the country in which they live when they reach later life. Coupled with this, migrant populations can experience multiple forms of financial vulnerability throughout their lives, and particularly when they have limited economic resources. For example, in the UK migrants without access to public funds lack the ability to apply for Universal Credit, pension credit and housing benefit. They are also often exposed to the impacts of precarious working conditions, which are themselves associated with weaker socio-economic benefits such as pensions, holiday pay and sick leave. They can also experience more precarious living conditions, leading to lower levels of property wealth and fewer saving options. For many lower paid and insecure migrants, then, later life is a particularly challenging time. They may experience further barriers to accessing welfare support and may have only a very minimal pension – if they have one at all.

Little is known about how these multiple vulnerabilities contribute to migrants’ sense of financial wellbeing in later life. Yet meeting the needs of an ageing population is a key policy challenge in the UK, and this task is made more complex by these intersecting migration-related inequalities. This project will investigate the factors which shape migrants’ sense of financial wellbeing in later life. The project will involve conducting questionnaires and interviews with migrants aged over 60 to capture their experiences and perceptions of financial wellbeing and vulnerability as they encounter older age and the potential for retirement. In doing so, the project will contribute substantially to inclusive ageing research and policy agendas.

Person Specification

The successful candidate should hold a Masters degree in the social sciences (or related disciplines) with a Merit overall (or equivalent) with a dissertation/research element, PLUS a First or Upper Second Class Honours degree (or an equivalent qualification from an overseas institution).

Contact information

For informal enquiries about this project please contact Dr Katie Tonkiss k.tonkiss@aston.ac.uk.

Submitting an application

Your application must include:

• English language copies of the transcripts and certificates for all your higher education degrees, including any Bachelor degrees.
• A Research Proposal Statement detailing your understanding of the research area, how you would approach the project, and a brief review of relevant literature. Be sure to use the title of the research project you are applying for. There is no set format or word count.
• A personal statement which outlines any further information which you think is relevant to your application, such as your personal suitability for research, career aspirations, possible future research interests, and further description of relevant employment experience.
• Two academic referees who can discuss your suitability for independent research. References must be on headed paper, signed and dated no more than 2 years old. At least one reference should be from your most recent University. You can submit your references at a later date if necessary.
• Evidence that you meet the English Language requirements. If you do not currently meet the language requirements, you can submit this at a later stage.
• A copy of your passport. Where relevant, include evidence of settled or pre-settled status.

Apply for this position here