The Intergenerational Transmission of the “Healthy Immigrant Effect:” Examining Health Outcomes of Immigrants’ Children Through Social Capital

Abstract

The health of children and immigrants has been paramount to the economics literature in recent years. A strong relationship between parents’ socioeconomic status and children’s health has been well established. The vast short- and long-term consequences of children’s health outcomes, like low birth weight, have been emphasized. Similarly, empirical studies have attributed considerable importance to immigrants’ health. The healthy immigrant effect (HIE), a phenomenon where immigrants are healthier upon arrival but their health diminishes through time, has been evidenced in Canada. However, the link between children’s health and the HIE has not been made. Using birth weight as a health measure, the intergenerational transmission of the HIE through social capital is examined. With the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth this study provides robust evidence of the perpetuation of the HIE. However, social capital does not appear to be a determinant of birth weight for immigrants’ children in Canada.