The Healthy Immigrant Effect: The role of educational selectivity in the good health of migrants

Ichou, Mathieu; Wallace, Matthew

doi:10.4054/demres.2019.40.4

Cited by 70 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…A similar argument can be applied to national contexts that differ in aggregate educational attainment (Feliciano 2005). While it has become relatively common to employ individuals' educational rank at origin as a proxy for pre-migration status (Ichou 2014;Spörlein and Kristen, 2018;Engzell 2019), here we extend the same approach to the destination country (cf., Feliciano and Lanuza 2017;Ichou and Wallace, 2019). We focus on two outcomes that are likely to be sensitive to reference group considerations: subjective social status and perceived financial situation.…”

Section: Reference Groups In Social Comparisonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Status Loss: The Burden of Positively Selected Immigrants

Engzell

Ichou

2019

International Migration Review

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Immigrants experience an ambiguous social position: on the one hand, they tend to be positively selected on resources from the origin country; on the other, they often occupy the lower rungs of the status ladder in receiving countries. This study explores the implications of this ambiguity for two important individual outcomes: subjective social status and perceived financial situation. We study the diverse sample of immigrants in the European Social Survey and use the fact that, due to country differences in educational distributions, a given education level can entail a very different rank in the sending and receiving countries. We document a robust relationship whereby immigrants who ranked higher in the origin than in the destination country see themselves as being comparatively worse off. This finding suggests that the social position before migration provides an important reference point by which immigrants judge their success in the new country.

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Section: Reference Groups In Social Comparisonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Status Loss: The Burden of Positively Selected Immigrants

Engzell

Ichou

2019

International Migration Review

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“…Despite a substantial between-study heterogeneity in refugees’ mental illness prevalence rates, forced migration has persistently been linked to increased rates of mental illnesses, chiefly, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety disorder [ 5 – 7 ]. Even considering that those who embark on flight are likely to exhibit resilience (‘Healthy Immigrant Effect’ [ 8 ]), refugees are particularly at risk of facing psychological distress as sequelae of traumatic or stressful experiences before or during flight [ 4 , 9 , 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Living Conditions and the Mental Health and Well-being of Refugees: Evidence from a Large-Scale German Survey

Walther

Fuchs

Schupp

et al. 2020

J Immigrant Minority Health

112

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Refugees are at an increased risk of mental health problems and low subjective well-being. Living circumstances in the host country are thought to play a vital role in shaping these health outcomes, which, in turn, are prerequisites for successful integration. Using data from a representative survey of 4325 adult refugees who arrived in Germany between 2013 and 2016, we investigated how different living conditions, especially those subject to integration policies, are associated with psychological distress and life satisfaction using linear regression models. Our findings show that an uncertain legal status, separation from family, and living in refugee housing facilities are related to higher levels of distress and decreased life satisfaction. Being employed, contact to members of the host society, and better host country language skills, by contrast, are related to reduced distress and higher levels of life satisfaction. These associations should inform decision making in a highly contested policy area.

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“…Empirical findings from a vast body of research have revealed several social factors that have a significant impact on immigrant birthweight. There is evidence that the socio-economic status, in terms of educational attainment and occupational position, has a positive impact on the health of mothers and their children through improved work and economic conditions, psycho-social resources, and healthy lifestyle choices [ 18 – 20 ]. However, this relationship can be curvilinear, with university-educated mothers presenting adverse birth outcomes likely due to their older age at delivery [ 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond the healthy immigrant paradox: decomposing differences in birthweight among immigrants in Spain

et al. 2020

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Background The healthy immigrant paradox refers to the unexpected health advantages of immigrant groups settled in host countries. In this population-based study we analyze immigrant advantages in birthweight decomposing differences between infants born to immigrant mothers from specific origins. Method Using publicly available data from Spanish Vital Statistics for the period 2007–2017, differential birthweights among several groups of immigrants were estimated with an ordinary least squares regression. The Oaxaca–Blinder regression-based decomposition method was then applied to identify the extent to which differences in birthweight between groups corresponded to compositional disparities or to other factors. Results Our analysis of singleton live births to migrant mothers in Spain between 2007 and 2017 (N = 542,137) confirmed the healthy immigrant paradox for certain immigrant populations settled in Spain. Compared with infants born to mothers from high-income countries, the adjusted birthweight was higher for infants born to mothers from non-high- income European countries (33.2 g, 95% CI: 28.3–38.1, P < 0.01), mothers from African countries (52.2 g, 95% CI: 46.9–57.5, P < 0.01), and mothers from Latin American countries (57.4 g, 95% CI: 52.9–61.3, P < 0.01), but lower for infants born to mothers from Asian non-high-income countries (− 31.4 g, 95% CI: − 38.4 to − 24.3, P < 0.01). Decomposition analysis showed that when compared with infants born to mothers from high-income countries, compositional heterogeneity accounts for a substantial proportion of the difference in birthweights. For example, it accounts for 53.5% (95% CI: 24.0–29.7, P < 0.01) of the difference in birthweights for infants born to mothers from non-high-income European countries, 70.9% (95% CI: 60–66.7, P < 0.01) for those born to mothers from African countries, and 38.5% (95% CI: 26.1–29.3, P < 0.01) for those born to mothers from Latin American countries. Conclusions Our results provide strong population-based evidence for the healthy immigrant paradox in birthweight among certain migrant groups in Spain. However, birth outcomes vary significantly depending on the origins of migrant subpopulations, meaning that not all immigrant groups are unexpectedly healthier. A significant portion of the perinatal health advantage of certain immigrant groups is only a by-product of their group composition (by age, parity, marital status, socioeconomic status, and citizenship of mother, age and migratory status of father and type of delivery) and does not necessarily correspond to other medical, environmental, or behavioral factors.

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The Healthy Immigrant Effect: The role of educational selectivity in the good health of migrants

Cited by 70 publications

References 67 publications

Status Loss: The Burden of Positively Selected Immigrants

Status Loss: The Burden of Positively Selected Immigrants

Living Conditions and the Mental Health and Well-being of Refugees: Evidence from a Large-Scale German Survey

Beyond the healthy immigrant paradox: decomposing differences in birthweight among immigrants in Spain

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