Migration and Later Life Health

Dirgha J. Ghimire, University of Michigan
Prem B. Bhandari, University of Michigan

Using a uniquely detailed decade-long panel data from a migrant sending setting of the South Asia, this study investigates long term consequences of migration on health - self-reported health and physical functionality. We developed a theoretical framework to explain how migration experience is likely to influence later life health. To test the influence of migration experience on later life health we used multiple data sets featuring detail migration histories and health measures from Chitwan Valley Family Study (CVFS), Nepal. Results of our multi-level multivariate analysis suggest that the number of years of migration experience adversely influence –self-rated health as well as physical functionality. These intriguing results provide important feedback to the policy makers from migrant sending settings grappling with rapid population aging and old age security with eroding historical family norms, values and old age care system.