Social health inequalities : a French analysis based on the migrant population

Using a representative survey of the French population, the Health, Health Care and Insurance Survey (ESPS: “Enquête sur la santé et la protection sociale”), this article aims to study the links between migration, region of origin and health status in France. Firstly, we have compared the health status between migrants and the native population in discerning an identifiable difference between first-generation and second-generation migrants. Following this, in order to explain the heterogeneity of health status amongst the migrant population, we have refined our analysis by integrating their country of origin into our estimation and then exploring the health differences between individuals who have emigrated from South-East Mediterranean (SEM) countries and individuals who have emigrated from all other countries. Our findings show that there exist health inequalities that are related to immigration, when compared with the health status of the native population in France. First and second generation migrants have a higher risk than the native French born population to report a poor health status. By introducing country of origin into our analysis we are able to confirm the health heterogeneity within both groups of migrants. Individuals coming from SEM countries are more likely to report poor health status than the native French born population (for both generation migrants) and this risk seems significantly higher for individuals who have emigrated from Turkey. These inequalities are partly explained by the poor socio-economic conditions of the migrant population and a general lack of social integration in France.ou