Intersectional migration-related health inequalities in Europe: Exploring the role of migrant generation, occupational status & gender

• Published in: Social science & medicine (1982) Vol. 267; p. 113218
• Main Authors: Gkiouleka, Anna, Huijts, Tim
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2020; Pergamon Press Inc
• Subjects: Disadvantaged; Employment; Europe; Female; Gender; Generation; Health disparities; Health inequalities; Health problems; Health status; Health Status Disparities; Humans; Immigrants; Immigration; Inequality; Intersectionality; Male; Migrants; Migration; Multiple roles; Occupational status; Positioning; Social privilege; Socioeconomic Factors; Transients and Migrants; Europe; Immigration; Generation; Intersectionality; Gender; Occupational status; Health inequalities
• ISSN: 0277-9536; 1873-5347
• DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113218

Integrating intersectionality theory and employing a quantitative design, the current study explores how migration-related health inequalities in Europe interact with migrant generation, occupational status and gender. Multilevel logistic regression analyses are conducted using pooled data from six waves of the European Social Survey (2004–2014), from 27 countries for two subjective health measures (general self-reported health and hampering conditions). The results reveal multiple relationships of health inequality that operate simultaneously and the complexity through which the combination of social privilege and disadvantage can have a particularly negative impact on individual health. The ‘healthy migrant effect’ seems to apply particularly for first-generation immigrants working as manual employees, and within occupational categories, in certain cases non-migrant women are more susceptible to poor health than migrant men. This evidence highlights how the health impact of migration is subject to additional dimensions of social positioning as well as the importance of an intersectional perspective for the monitoring of health inequalities in Europe. •Intersectional analysis of migration-related health inequalities in Europe.•Self-rated health subject to migration, generation, gender and occupational status.•Complex health inequalities in groups combining social privilege and disadvantage.•‘Healthy migrant effect’ present across manual employees.•Women more likely to report negative health outcomes overall.