Regional Mortality Inequalities in the Netherlands and the Role of Internal Migration

Maximilian Frentz-Göllnitz , University of Rostock, University of Groningen
Adrien Remund, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Ernst van der Hoeven, Population Research Centre, University of Groningen
Carel Harmsen, Statistics Netherlands
Gabriele Doblhammer, University of Rostock Institute for Sociology and demography
Fanny Janssen, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) and University of Groningen

The impact of selective migration on regional inequalities is well established for self-reported health outcomes in the context of urban-rural migration, but less so for mortality when regarding migration between all regions. In this study, we aim at quantifying the contribution of internal migration on regional life expectancy (e0) inequalities across the Netherlands. We extracted individual-level all-cause death counts and population exposures by region from Dutch population registers for the period 2015-2019, excluding emigration. The data was aggregated into 5-year groups (0, 1-4, 5-9, …, 85+) and over the 5 years, and used to compute life tables by internal migrant status and sex in the 40 COROP (NUTS-3) regions. Overall, the range in e0 across the 40 COROP regions was 2.69 years for males and 2.55 years for females. People who changed region in the 10 years prior to observation displayed an e0 disadvantage of 2.75 years (males) to 3.37 years (females) compared to their counterparts who remained in the same region. This e0 disadvantage of internal migrants was found in all regions, while the e0 gap varied from roughly 1 to 7 years across the country. Because of the small share of internal migrants in the general population, migration however only explained about 10% of regional e0 gaps. Our study shows marked inequalities in e0 across Dutch regions. Despite strong mortality differences between internal migrants and stayers, internal migration does not significantly affect regional mortality inequalities in the Netherlands.

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 Presented in Session 114. Internal Migration, Spatial Inequalities and Segregation