Seeking for security, escaping from insecurity:
how ontological security can explain retirement migration to Hungary?
by Krisztina Németh
Introduction
In recent years, traditionally preferred destinations of international retirement migration (IRM) are becoming increasingly unaffordable for older adults, thus, new geographical frontiers have been emerging (Iorio, 2020; Toyota, 2022; Koós et al., 2025). Not only geographies, but the range of social groups involved in this type of migration is also widening (King et al., 2021). Recent research suggests that IRM is no longer the privilege of relatively affluent individuals seeking a better life; rather, a new social group within IRM has emerged with a lower social position and smaller pensions, seeking to live better lives in less attractive places that offer tranquility and lower living costs (Botterill, 2017; Iorio, 2020). This tendency put Hungary, among other countries, „on the map of IRM.” Interestingly, Hungary’s remote, peripheral settlements have also become destinations for many older migrants from different countries (Koós et al., 2025).
Our research distinguished two groups of older migrants living in these places: Western migrants (especially from Germany, Austria and the Netherlands) relocating to Somogy County’s small and remote villages, and Eastern migrants coming from Ukraine (Transcarpathia) settling in Szabolcs-Szatmár County near the Hungarian-Ukrainian border. Our research sought to understand these two groups of migrants’ motivations and strategies to relocate, and examined how they can create or re-create their sense of security in many senses through these strategies. With this question, we linked Giddens’s ontological security concept to the IRM literature. Ontological security means a fundamental human need for a sense of order and predictability constituted by well-known and familiar circumstances in social, affective, and material sense, and by the constant reaffirmation of others who “recognize [one’s] behaviour as appropriate or reasonable” (Giddens, 1991, p. 191).
Research question
In this paper, we aimed to reveal the complex motivations for relocation of both groups of older migrants, and to understand what makes Hungary (especially its peripheral counties and settlements) attractive in their eyes. We also examined the similarities in the migration stories of Western and Eastern migrants and how the term of ontological security, together with our empirical results, can enrich the international literature on IRM.
Methods
Our research involved quantitative and qualitative parts. Quantitative analysis not only revealed that Hungary became a target country for older foreigners in recent decades, but also showed those areas where they settled in greater numbers. Based on the quantitative data analysis, we chose two research fields for qualitative inquiry: Somogy county, where Western migrants have been moving in, and Szabolcs-Szatmár county, where Eastern migrants have been settling in greater numbers. The two research groups worked in parallel, but in close cooperation, in these two research fields by conducting semi-structured interviews with older migrants, local leaders and stakeholders. Interview guides were developed jointly to enhance the comparability of the data, while the two research groups exchanged experiences and discussed preliminary findings in a consortium workshop each year of the research.
Results
The comparative analysis of the interviews showed that the topic of insecurity (such as being discontent with the (home) state and social security it offers, anxiety, war, financial or cultural insecurity) appears in the migration narratives of both groups. This does not imply, however, that the personal experiences, circumstances of relocation, and the threats presented by Eastern and Western older migrants are analogous. As a consequence, these two groups follow partly different strategies in (re-)creating their ontological security. While Western migrants aim to reduce their cost of living, Eastern migrants increase their income by relocating to the neighbouring country, Hungary. For Western migrants, relocation in older age is an individual strategy aiming to (re-)create material security and a viable alternative for later life. For Eastern migrants, migration is a complex, multigenerational family strategy, a way of coping with diverse insecurities based on exploiting geographical proximity by daily commuting. While the roots of insecurity are more or less common (weakened trust in the state and its institutions, inadequate welfare provisions, and economic instability), which can exacerbate insecurities and fuel migration, relocation can be a means to restore a rupture of sense of security either in terms of safer living conditions, physical safety, a life free from fear, and a sense of political, ideological, and cultural belonging.
Our results also show that while older migrants articulate values which are usually related to the crises of home countries, patterns of migration are deeply embedded in the system of inequalities within Europe. This demonstrates that the term ontological security can contribute to the international literature of IRM since it gives a layered picture of different kinds of insecurities motivating relocation and displays different ways of creating security through migration.
Erőss Á.; Gábriel D.; Váradi M. M.; Kohut-Ferki J.; Németh K.; Koós B.; Tátrai P.; Kovály K. (2026): International retirement migration to Hungary : seeking to reaffirm ontological security? Journal of International Migraton and Integration
