Should I Stay or Should I Go? Mexican Return Migration across the Life Course

Foreign-born individuals make up a growing share of older adults in the US. Older immigrants offer an important vantage point from which to investigate integration because outcomes at older ages can be considered “final” measures providing empirical evidence for theoretical understandings of the forces impacting immigrant trajectories. However, considering the non-negligible portion of immigrants that ultimately return to their country of origin it is impossible to get the full range of immigrant outcomes without considering returnees. Further, patterns of return may differ across the life course with distinct economic, social, and health considerations at older ages. However, the impact of selective return migration, including considerations of heterogeneity by life stage, on immigrant outcomes at older ages remains understudied. Using Mexican immigrants to the US as a case study, the largest immigrant group in the US with high rates of return migration, this dissertation answers the following questions: (1) how does the magnitude of return migration differ by age at return? (2) do stayers, younger returnees, and older returnees differ on key outcomes (focusing on wealth and disability), and if so, how? (3) do structural factors impact correlates of older age return, and if so, how? The main obstacle to accurately assess the full range of immigrant trajectories is the absence of data on return migration. Here multiple years of data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) are combined with the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) to create a unique dataset that includes Mexican born individuals that remain in the US into older ages and those that have returned to Mexico. This is complemented by Census Bureau data is used to estimate the magnitude of return. Using a residual method to estimate return migration by age, I find a bimodal pattern of return, that peaks both during prime working ages and after retirement age. Additionally, estimates of key demographic, socioeconomic, health, and migration characteristics by return group – stayers, younger returnees (before age 50), and older returnees (50 and older) show evidence of positive selection on economic and health outcomes into return. Across the life course return is associated with higher likelihood of positive wealth accumulation and, following the 2008 recession in the US, greater net wealth. This returnee advantage is robust to the inclusion of variables representing a wide range of factors impacting residence decisions. Further, I find evidence of older age return as a means of asset maximization, pointing to the unique economic considerations of older immigrants as they approach retirement. Stayers also have a higher prevalence of disability as compared to both younger and older returnees, results which are robust to controls. This finding is novel because it stands in opposition to assumptions about the direction of health selective return migration, or the “salmon bias,” and provides an explanation for a disability crossover from younger into older ages. Overall, I find that a portion of Mexican immigrants remaining in the United States into older ages that are particularly vulnerable in terms of wealth and disability. The systematic differences between immigrants who stay in the US into older age and those who return to their country of origin mean that without accounting for the possibility of non-random selection of return, fiscal and social welfare implications of those who remain cannot be accurately estimated. These results give clear indication that research omitting returnees, especially returnees at older ages who have spent a considerable portion of their adult life in the US, systematically excludes a group of immigrants with largely positive outcomes. Absent the inclusion of older returnees or, at the very least, the acknowledgment of potential bias, research that only considers a residual population of stayers cannot make reliable conclusions about the life course trajectory of Mexican immigrants in the US. This research lays the groundwork for future research on differential selection into return by age and its implications for immigrant integration, stratification, and mobility – both of the Mexican immigrant population to the US and other immigrant populations worldwide

How Do We Educate for Peace? Study of narratives of Jewish and Palestinian peace activists

The present analysis focuses on the personal narratives of peace activists, the facilitators of reconciliation-aimed dialogues between two ethno-national groups in a situation of asymmetrical conflict: Jews and Palestinians. It puts forward the idea that these peace activists bring a wealth of knowledge from their personal and professional narratives to bear on their strategies and practices of social transformation. We posit that foregrounding this knowledge through the analysis of these narratives not only affords a better understanding of their theoretical perspectives, their practices, aims and goals of social change but also can greatly contribute to our better understanding of peace education processes in general and in particular to a consideration of the ways peace activists experience and creatively deal with the dilemmas and challenges they confront in their transformational work

Disability Crossover: Is There a Hispanic Immigrant Health Advantage that Reverses from Working to Old Age?

BACKGROUND Hispanic immigrants have been found to be more likely to have a disability than US-born populations. Studies have primarily focused on populations aged 60 and older; little is known about immigrant disability at younger ages. OBJECTIVE Taking a broader perspective, we investigate whether Hispanic immigrants have lower disability rates in midlife; if so, at what ages this health advantage reverses; and the correlates of this pattern. METHODS Using American Community Survey 2010–2014 data, we estimate age-specific disability prevalence rates by gender, nativity, education, and migration age from age 40 to 80. We also present estimates by six types of disability. RESULTS Compared to non-Hispanic whites, disability prevalence among foreign-born Mexican women is lower until age 53 (men: 61) and greater after 59 (66). Similar patterns hold for other foreign-born Hispanics. Crossovers are observed in rates of ambulatory, cognitive, independent living, and self-care disability. Evidence of a steeper age– disability gradient among less-educated immigrants is found. Minimal differences are noted by migration age, challenging an acculturation explanation for the crossover. CONTRIBUTION The paper contributes to a better understanding of immigrant–native disability patterns in the United States. It is the first to systematically document a Hispanic immigrant health advantage in disability that reverses from working to old age. Hispanic immigrants (particularly foreign-born Mexican women), may face steeper risk trajectories, consistent with their greater concentration in low-skill manual occupations. We call for increased scholarly attention to this phenomenon

Sociocultural and Demographic Drivers of Latino Population Health in New York State

Latinos are the largest racial/ethnic minority group in the United States and are among the fastest-growing populations in New York State. However, there is variation across Latino sub-groups in educational attainment, income, and access to health insurance. This research brief explores the diversity within the Latino population living in New York State and describes inequities in key sociocultural and demographic drivers of Latino population health

Disability and the Immigrant Health Paradox: Gender and Timing of Migration

Although research has documented better health and longer life expectancy among the foreign-born relative to their U.S.-born counterparts, the U.S. Mexican-origin immigrant population is diverse and the healthy immigrant effect likely varies by key structural and demographic factors such as gender, migration history, and duration in the United States. Using a life course framework, we use data from the Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (H-EPESE 1993–2013) which includes Mexican-American individuals aged 65 and older to assess the heterogeneity in the immigrant health advantage by age of migration and gender. We find that age of migration is an important delineating factor for disability among both men and women. The healthy immigrant hypothesis is only observable among mid- and late-life migrant men for ADL disability. While among immigrant women, late-life migrants are more likely to have an IADL disability putting them at a health disadvantage. These findings illustrate that Mexican immigrants are not a homogeneous group and migrant health selectivity depends on both gender and when migrants arrived in the United States

Disability crossover: Is there a Hispanic immigrant health advantage that reverses from working to old age?

Background: Hispanic immigrants have been found to be more likely to have a disability than US-born populations. Studies have primarily focused on populations aged 60 and older; little is known about immigrant disability at younger ages. Objective: Taking a broader perspective, we investigate whether Hispanic immigrants have lower disability rates in midlife; if so, at what ages this health advantage reverses; and the correlates of this pattern. Methods: Using American Community Survey 2010-2014 data, we estimate age-specific disability prevalence rates by gender, nativity, education, and migration age from age 40 to 80. We also present estimates by six types of disability. Results: Compared to non-Hispanic whites, disability prevalence among foreign-born Mexican women is lower until age 53 (men: 61) and greater after 59 (66). Similar patterns hold for other foreign-born Hispanics. Crossovers are observed in rates of ambulatory, cognitive, independent living, and self-care disability. Evidence of a steeper age-disability gradient among less-educated immigrants is found. Minimal differences are noted by migration age, challenging an acculturation explanation for the crossover. Contribution: The paper contributes to a better understanding of immigrant-native disability patterns in the United States. It is the first to systematically document a Hispanic immigrant health advantage in disability that reverses from working to old age. Hispanic immigrants (particularly foreign-born Mexican women), may face steeper risk trajectories, consistent with their greater concentration in low-skill manual occupations. We call for increased scholarly attention to this phenomenon