Family Migration Strategies and the Health of the 1.5 Generation

Claudia Brunori , Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
Johan Junkka, Umeå University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Centre for Demographic and Ageing Research (CEDAR)
Erling Häggström Gunfridsson, Centre for Demographic and Aging Research at Umeå University (CEDAR)

Immigrant children have limited agency and understanding in the migration process: their migration is typically defined by parental decisions, including regarding the family migration strategy, that is, whether the family migrates jointly or sequentially. Literature has shown that sequential family migration (having been transnationally separated from a parent in the migration process) tends to be associated with worse emotional and relational outcomes among immigrant children. However, our knowledge of the long-term consequences of different family migration strategies on immigrant children is very limited. In this article, we advance the literature on the consequences of different family migration strategies by looking at physical and mental health outcomes in young adulthood and by using a fine-grained classification of sequential migration experiences, considering both the length of separation and the order of migration. We use whole population data from Sweden to study (1) the diversity of family migration strategies experienced by immigrant children and (2) how these relate to physical and mental health from late adolescence to young adulthood (ages 16 to 23). Our preliminary results challenge the idea of a straightforwardly negative impact of transnational separation from a parent on mental health: while some experiences of sequential migration are associated with higher risks of mental disorders, these are mostly characterised by long or permanent separations and by migration with the first mover. We find no difference between those who migrated with both parents and those who migrated with a parent to join the first mover.

See extended abstract

 Presented in Session 75. Health and Mortality in Migrant Populations