Searching for the 'healthy Immigrant' Across Euopean Countries

The present research utilizes data from the first round of the Generations and Gender Program (GGP) in Europe to examine differences in health between first and second generation immigrants as compared to the third generation (and above) native born populations. The data analysis focuses on five national representative samples (between the age 26 and 82) of the following West European countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands. Country-specific logit regression analysis reveals that first generation immigrants are more likley to report poor health than third-generation natives born in all countries with only one minor exception (in Belgium the difference in reported health is not statistically significant). The poorer health of reported health among first generation immigrants can be mostly attributed to differences in socioeconomic status and to some extent to differences in the level of gross national income (GNI) of country of birth. The analysis also reveals that second generation immigrants are likely to report similar health to that reported by the third-generation with only one exception. Further analysis reveals that the poorer health of first-generation immigrants as compared to the native-born populations cannot be fully attributed to differences in socioeconomic characteristics; it can be attributed, however, to GNI differences between country of origin and country of destination. Potential sources for health disparities between immigrants and native-born populations in Western Europe are discussed and evaluated.