Migrant Health and Wealth: The Conditional Nature of the Healthy Migrant Effect

• In Event: 469 - Section on International Migration Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 04. Migrant Well-Being

Abstract

Mexican immigration to the U.S. is a central topic for sociological and demographic research. Of particular importance is understanding the processes through which new Mexican immigrants are selected and how they may differ both from non-migrants and from native born coethnics. Considerable research suggests that the odds of migration from Mexico to the United States are in affected by individuals' health statuses at the time of departure. In this paper I employ longitudinal data from the Mexican Family Life Survey to explore the extent to which migrant selection on health is conditional upon other resources that also enable Mexican migration.

Author

• Joshua Thomas Wassink, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill