Migration Experiences, Environmental Exposures and Old Age Mortality in the Dutch Birth Cohorts 1850-1890

Résumé 0

This paper studies the risk of mortality above the age of fifty among members of the 1850–1890 birth cohorts. The context is the Netherlands during its modernization phase and epidemiological transition. An environmental life course approach is adopted, drawing on literature on the migrants’ mortality paradox, urban penalty, and theories of early life conditions and cumulative disadvantage. Micro-level longitudinal data were derived from the Historical Sample of the Netherlands for Dutch individuals (n = 8,773) followed from their fiftieth birthday until their death, i.e., from 1900 until 1990. Cox regression analysis was applied to empirically test the impact on old-age mortality of environmental conditions at birth and of diverse environmental exposures, approached through a reconstruction of the internal migration experiences during the first fifty years of life. Results confirm the long-term impact of being born in healthy or unhealthy places, though only for men. Migration histories suggest the non-return of unhealthy migrants and that rural women who engaged in urban domesticity benefited from this experience. The gender differences in the impact of environmental exposures call for more research. The age-as-leveler hypothesis looks promising.