Determinants of Immigrant-Native Health Disparities in Australia across 21 Years

Guogui HUANG, Macquarie University
Fei Guo, Department of Management, Macquarie University, Australia

This study addresses the pervasive ‘healthy immigrant effect’ observed in previous research, focusing on immigrants’ apparent initial health advantage over natives, predominantly documented through mortality studies. Focussing on a broader measurement of health to extend the literature, we investigate the comprehensive landscape of health disparities by birthplace in Australia, utilising 21-year longitudinal data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. Employing the Short-Form Six Dimensions (SF-6D) approach to include physical, mental, and social health dimensions, we employ unconditional quantile regression and the Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition method to discern the sociodemographic differentials’ effects on immigrant-native health disparities. Our findings reveal a significantly lower mean SF-6D score among the overseas-born population compared to the Australia-born population, particularly among those in lower health strata. Contradicting the healthy immigrant conjecture, this finding suggests overall better health among the natives after considering different aspects of health. The disparities are primarily associated with individual-level factors such as labour market status, duration of stay, socioeconomic status of residential areas, and age, with post-migration environment contributing negatively to immigrants’ health outcomes, particularly among those with lower initial health levels.

Keywords: Population Ageing, Health and Morbidity, International Migration, Decomposition analysis

See extended abstract.