Migrant Selection and the Health of U.S. Immigrants From the Former Soviet Union

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Neil K. Mehta, Emory University; Irma T. Elo, University of Pennsylvania
• Language: English
• Date: 2012-05
• Publisher: Springer Verlag (Germany)
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © Population Association of America 2012
• Final Published Version (URL): http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13524-012-0099-7
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Demography
• ISSN: 0070-3370
• Volume: 49
• Issue: 2
• Start Page: 425
• End Page: 447
• Grant/Funding Information: This research was supported by the National Institute of Aging Grant #P30 AG12836, the National Institutes of Aging T32 Predoctoral Institutional Training Grant AG0001777, and a University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences Dissertation Completion Fellowship.; We thank the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars program for its financial support.
• Keywords: Health; USA; Immigration; Former Soviet Union; Disability
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

Few prior studies have investigated the health of U.S. immigrants from the former Soviet Union (FSU). Utilizing data from the 2000 U.S. census and the 2000–2007 National Health Interview Survey (NIHS), we compare levels of disability of FSU immigrants with U.S.-born whites (ages 50–84). Our findings suggest an “epidemiologic paradox” in that FSU immigrants possess higher levels of education compared with U.S.-born whites, but report considerably higher disability with and without adjustment for education. Nonetheless, FSU immigrants report lower levels of smoking and heavy alcohol use compared with U.S.-born whites. We further investigate disability by period of arrival among FSU immigrants. Changes in Soviet emigration policies conceivably altered the level of health selectivity among émigrés. We find evidence that FSU immigrants who emigrated during a period when a permission to emigrate was hard to obtain (1970–1986) displayed less disability compared with those who emigrated when these restrictions were less stringent (1987–2000). Finally, we compare disability among Russian-born U.S. immigrants with that of those residing in Russia as a direct test of health selectivity. We find that Russian immigrants report lower levels of disability compared with Russians in Russia, suggesting that they are positively selected for health despite their poor health relative to U.S.-born whites.