Mother’s, Household, and Community U.S. Migration Experience and Infant Mortality in Mexico

Erin R. Hamilton, University of Texas at Austin
Andres Villarreal, University of Texas at Austin
Robert A. Hummer, University of Texas at Austin

This study explores the relationship between individual, household, and community U.S. migration experience and infant mortality in Mexico. Research suggests that household and community migration experience influence health in migrant-sending communities through resources and information remitted back home. Women’s own migration experience may benefit their health in Mexico similarly, or return migrants in Mexico may be selectively healthy, an explanation for the relatively low mortality of foreign-born Mexicans in the United States. Using 2000 Mexican Census data and multi-level models to explore the relationship between individual, household, and community U.S. migration experience and infant mortality in Mexico, we found that rural women with U.S. migration experience had a significantly lower likelihood of infant mortality. Household and community migration experience were also independently associated with lower infant mortality, although not consistently or significantly so. These relationships vary across levels of urbanization in Mexico.