The Nativity Wealth-Health Gradient: The Case of Norway

Dina Maskileyson, University of Luxembourg
Bettina Hünteler, University of Cologne

This study examines the wealth-health gradient among native Norwegians and immigrant groups, focusing on variations by region of origin and reason for migration. Using 2017 register data, we analyze 599,567 first-generation immigrants and 2,917,335 native-born individuals aged 27 and older. We use Poisson regression models to predict health (measured by a morbidity index) by relative wealth, comparing Norwegian natives and the immigrant population. Our analysis includes two wealth indicators: gross wealth, which covers tangible and financial assets, and debts, which encompasses all types of debt, including mortgages owed to Norwegian and foreign creditors. Results show that immigrants generally have poorer overall health than Norwegian natives. However, Norwegian natives exhibit a steeper wealth-health gradient than any immigrant group across all gross wealth levels, but we find no differences in the gradient with debt. As individuals age, the relationship between wealth, debt, and health strengthens, particularly in older age groups, with more pronounced debt-health gradients. The difference between the wealth-health gradients between Norwegian natives and immigrants may be attributed to health-based selection into migration, labor market strategies, and discrimination. Our study challenges the assumption of a universal wealth-health association and highlights its complex interaction with migration patterns.

Keywords: Health and Morbidity, International Migration, Inequality, Disadvantage and Discrimination, Migrant Populations and Refugees

See extended abstract.