Migration, Health, and Environment in the Desert Southwest

Scott T Yabiku, Arizona State University
Elizabeth Wentz, Arizona State University
Li Zhu, Arizona State University

Although research on place effects and health has focused on racial/ethnic disparities, and to some extent nativity differences, more limited attention is paid to the selection of migrants into neighborhoods or length of exposure to those neighborhoods. Further complicating this picture is that new arrivals to rapidly growing parts of the United States include both international and domestic migrants and both groups face new environmental exposures. This paper addresses this intersection between studies of place and health and migration and health by analyzing new data for one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country, Phoenix AZ. Findings suggest that duration in the receiving community is associated with lower reported health even controlling for age, ethnicity and nativity, hinting that foreign born immigrants may not be the only individuals subject to an "immigrant paradox" of health. Neighborhood conditions are also associated with differential health outcomes.