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Immigration and the health of U.S. black adults: Does country of origin matter?

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  • Hamilton, Tod G.
  • Hummer, Robert A.

Abstract

Previous work suggests that regional variation in pre-migration exposure to racism and discrimination, measured by a region's racial composition, predicts differences in individual-level health among black immigrants to the United States. We exploit data on both region and country of birth for black immigrants in the United States and methodology that allows for the identification of arrival cohorts to test whether there are sending country differences in the health of black adults in the United States that support this proposition. While testing this hypothesis, we also document heterogeneity in health across arrival cohorts and by duration of U.S. residence among black immigrants. Using data on working-age immigrant and U.S.-born blacks taken from the 1996–2010 waves of the March Current Population Survey, we show that relative to U.S.-born black adults, black immigrants report significantly lower odds of fair/poor health. After controlling for relevant social and demographic characteristics, immigrants’ cohort of arrival, and immigrants’ duration in the United States, our models show only modest differences in health between African immigrants and black immigrants who migrate from the other major sending countries or regions. Results also show that African immigrants maintain their health advantage over U.S.-born black adults after more than 20 years in the United States. In contrast, black immigrants from the Caribbean who have been in the United States for more than 20 years appear to experience some downward health assimilation. In conclusion, after accounting for relevant factors, we find that there are only modest differences in black immigrant health across countries of origin. Black immigrants appear to be very highly selected in terms of good health, although there are some indications of negative health assimilation for black immigrants from the Caribbean.

Suggested Citation

  • Hamilton, Tod G. & Hummer, Robert A., 2011. "Immigration and the health of U.S. black adults: Does country of origin matter?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(10), pages 1551-1560.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:73:y:2011:i:10:p:1551-1560
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.07.026
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    Cited by:

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    6. Justin Vinneau Palarino, 2021. "The Immigrant Health Advantage: An Examination of African-Origin Black Immigrants in the United States," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(5), pages 895-929, October.
    7. Gabriella Berloffa & Francesca Paolini, 2019. "Decomposing Immigrant Differences in Physical and Mental Health: A 'Beyond the Mean' Analysis," DEM Working Papers 2019/4, Department of Economics and Management.
    8. Rivera, Berta & Casal, Bruno & Currais, Luis, 2013. "Healthy Immigrant Effect: Trayectoria de salud de la población inmigrante a partir de la ENSE 2011-2012/Healthy Immigrant Effect: An Empirical Approach to the Health Trajectory of Immigrant Population," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 31, pages 339-358, Septiembr.
    9. Savannah Larimore & Mosi Ifatunji & Hedwig Lee & Jane Rafferty & James Jackson & Margaret T. Hicken, 2021. "Geographic Variation in Reproductive Health Among the Black Population in the US: An Analysis of Nativity, Region of Origin, and Division of Residence," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(1), pages 33-59, February.
    10. Tiffany Green & Tod Hamilton, 2019. "Maternal educational attainment and infant mortality in the United States: Does the gradient vary by race/ethnicity and nativity?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(25), pages 713-752.
    11. Jonas Kinge & Tom Kornstad, 2014. "Assimilation effects on infant mortality among immigrants in Norway: Does maternal source country matter?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 31(26), pages 779-812.
    12. Read, Jen'nan Ghazal & West, Jessica S. & Kamis, Christina, 2020. "Immigration and health among non-Hispanic whites: The impact of arrival cohort and region of birth," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    13. Reynolds, Megan M. & Chernenko, Alla & Read, Jen'nan Ghazal, 2016. "Region of origin diversity in immigrant health: Moving beyond the Mexican case," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 102-109.
    14. Julien Teitler & Melissa Martinson & Nancy E. Reichman, 2017. "Does Life in the United States Take a Toll on Health? Duration of Residence and Birthweight among Six Decades of Immigrants," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 37-66, March.
    15. Michal Engelman & Bert M. Kestenbaum & Megan L. Zuelsdorff & Neil K. Mehta & Diane S. Lauderdale, 2017. "Work Disability Among Native-born and Foreign-born Americans: On Origins, Health, and Social Safety Nets," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(6), pages 2273-2300, December.
    16. Alcántara, Carmela & Chen, Chih-Nan & Alegría, Margarita, 2014. "Do post-migration perceptions of social mobility matter for Latino immigrant health?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 94-106.
    17. Rennie Lee & Laxman Bablani, 2023. "Do Asian Immigrants Have Better Mental Health? An Examination of Arrival Cohort and Gender in Australia," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(3), pages 1-29, June.
    18. Lu, Yao & Denier, Nicole & Wang, Julia Shu-Huah & Kaushal, Neeraj, 2017. "Unhealthy assimilation or persistent health advantage? A longitudinal analysis of immigrant health in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 105-114.
    19. Jen’nan Ghazal Read & Scott M. Lynch & Jessica S. West, 2021. "Disaggregating Heterogeneity among Non-Hispanic Whites: Evidence and Implications for U.S. Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(1), pages 9-31, February.
    20. Tod G. Hamilton, 2014. "Do Country-of-Origin Characteristics Help Explain Variation in Health Among Black Immigrants in the United States?," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 95(3), pages 817-834, September.

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