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July 14th, 2015

How does subjective wellbeing vary across ethnicity and migrant generations?

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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Blog Admin

July 14th, 2015

How does subjective wellbeing vary across ethnicity and migrant generations?

5 comments

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Cinzia RienzoIn this article, Cinzia Rienzo examines the ethnic and migrant dimensions of subjective wellbeing, finding that recent migrants experience better mental health and life satisfaction than white natives and other migrant generations. She argues that social interaction plays a key role in this, suggesting that living in areas with more people of the same ethnicity has a ‘protective’ effect.

Poor mental health is a widespread problem. At least one third of all families in England include someone who is currently mentally ill. Personal costs of poor mental health are accompanied by a negative impact on public finances and on the economy.

A large literature recognises that wellbeing is determined by a combination of adult outcomes, family background and childhood development. However, less is known about how subjective wellbeing varies across ethnicity and migrant generations, despite the fact that the UK population has been characterised by increasing immigration and, partially as a result of this, has become more ethnically diverse.

In view of this, the ethnic and migrant dimensions of wellbeing are very relevant. The migration process, along with the process of adaptation and integration that it involves, can be traumatic, causing stress and feeling of alienation and can therefore be associated with an increase in mental illness.

In a recent paper with my colleagues at NIESR I examine the extent to which family migration history helps explain inter-ethnic variations in mental health and life satisfaction.

Using the UK Household Longitudinal Survey (UKHLS), our analysis distinguishes between first generation migrants, second generation migrants and ‘natives’. We further distinguish between ‘recent’ and ‘established’ migrants, according to whether or not they arrived in the UK within the last 10 years. With regard to ethnicity, we identify seven broadly defined minority groups. We focus on three aspects of mental health constructed from the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). These are: anxiety and depression; social dysfunction; and loss of confidence. Alongside this, we also consider life satisfaction.

We find significant variation across both migration and ethnic dimensions. Furthermore, significant migrant variation exists across all ethnic groups and significant ethnic variation exists for all migrant generations. Specifically, recent migrants experience better mental health and life satisfaction than white natives and other migrant generations.

What is the role of social integration?

Now, what can help explain this variation in wellbeing among different migrant generations and ethnic groups? We considered several measures of integration and find out that:

  • the level of diversity of the area where living  is not important;
  • people are happier when living in an area where their own ethnic group are well-represented;
  • having difficulty in day to day English, is associated with a significant lower level of mental health;
  • mental health and life satisfaction are worse among those whose friends are mostly of a different race.

The data make it difficult to identify whether the effect are causal, so results are interpreted as a pure association.

Our findings suggest that living in areas with more people of the same ethnicity has a ‘protective’ effect, as shown in previous research (see Knies et al, 2014; Longhi, 2014) due to the enhanced social support, as well as positive identity and higher self-evaluation. We speculate that living in areas with people having similar cultural or religious background may provide more opportunities to have social interactions, to speak in one’s native language, to create a sense of belonging, to recreate a social and cultural context similar to that of the origin country, and to instil a sense of belonging to a social network of individuals with similar characteristics. Finally, we believe retaining cultural and ethnic links act as a ‘cushion’ that reduces the cultural distance from the hosting country.

Although language and communication difficulties represent a barrier to social integration which results in mental distress where integration is difficult, belonging to a social network of similar language/race/culture/ethnicity may offer an attractive alternative, allowing one’s own identity and culture to be preserved, as well as help creating a sense of community, mutual support and social cohesion.

In other words, social interaction with friends of the same race, as well as living in areas with individuals of the same ethnic group, may lower the costs associated with the migration process, mitigating the difficulties around adapting and integrating into the host country and attenuating the distress caused by the distance from one’s own families and country.

Overall, our findings suggest that a programme for national wellbeing should also account for the ethnic and migration dimension of the UK population.

About the Author

Cinzia RienzoCinzia Rienzo is Research Fellow at the NIESR.

 

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