Migration and infant death: Assimilation or selective migration among Puerto Ricans?

Using pooled origin/destination data from the Puerto Rican Maternal and Inf ant Health Study, we examine the implications for infant mortality of migra tion from Puerto Rico to the United States. An analysis restricted to the U .S. mainland shows that children of migrants have lower risks of infant mor tality than do children of mainland-born Puerto Rican women. A critical que stion is whether this pattern indicates that maternal exposure to U.S. cult ure undermines infant health or whether it is largely a result of the selec tive migration of healthier or more advantaged mothers to the United States . Our findings show that mother's duration of U.S. residence is positively related to infant mortality among the children of migrants, suggesting that a process of negative assimilation is occurring. However, inclusion of Pue rto Rico in the analysis demonstrates the importance of selective migration in explaining the U.S. mainland pattern: Infant mortality is substantially lower among recent migrants to the mainland than it is among nonmigrant wo men in Puerto Rico. The roles of socioeconomic status, cultural orientation , health habits, and health care utilization in accounting for differences in infants' survival chances by maternal migration status are assessed.