The Demography of Disability and the Effects of Immigrant History: Older Asians in the United States

The older Asian population is compared to native-born non-Hispanic Whites with respect to three indicators of disability, using data from the 2000 U.S. Census. Insofar as any Asian “advantage” in health vis-à-vis Whites exists among the population 65 and over, our evidence suggests that it occurs primarily among the native-born segments of this population. We also investigate how differences in disability levels among Asian immigrant groups are influenced by country of origin, and by the combined effects of duration of residence in the U.S. and life cycle stage at entry. These results highlight the diversity of the older Asian population with respect to the ways in which immigration and origin history are linked to disability outcomes. We conclude that in later life, immigrant status confers few advantages with respect to disability for the Asian population in the United States