The Health of Second Generation Mexican-Americans: Is Generational Decline Real?

A range of studies has demonstrated that social and economic factors are important determinants of health. Yet, despite having higher poverty rates, less education, and worse access to health care, many Hispanics living in the United States today have health outcomes that are equal to, or better than, those of non-Hispanic whites. This epidemiological paradox (also known as the Hispanic health paradox) seemingly varies between generations. Some commentators have pointed to the difference in health outcomes between foreign-born and native-born Mexicans as evidence of generational decline.

José Escarce and Leo Morales disagree. They argue that the generational decline hypothesis came about because researchers were comparing the wrong groups: today's immigrants with today's second generation immigrants. With support from the Foundation, Escarce and Morales will compare the health status and behavior of Mexican immigrants who resided in the United States twenty years ago with the health and behavior of today's Mexican-American second generation. Their analysis will take into account age, sex, marital status, education, family income, rural versus urban residence, language spoken at home, and generational cohort. To assess the likelihood that less healthy immigrants are more prone to return to Mexico, Escarce and Morales will estimate separate models by age group, since people of different ages show differing rates of return migration.