Migration and Marginalization: Social Networks, Inequality, and Health in Indonesia and Bangladesh

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Health care burdens associated with population ageing are intensifying internationally. In Bangladesh and Indonesia, health care takes place in the context of high rates of migration and urbanization. Although household median income increases with the addition of out-migrants, there is also evidence that wealth created by migrants fails to translate neatly into the health of non-migrant household members in these contexts. Indeed, the causal mechanisms shaping migration-health relationships are only beginning to be analyzed. This project focuses on understanding inequalities in health status between households with migrants and those without migrants in rural origin sites in Bangladesh and Indonesia. Building on recent research on social networks, the project explores how rural health is differentially affected by the migration behavior and remittance patterns of particular household members (i.e., working-age daughters, sons, spouses). In addition, it investigates how health differences are forged through specific social network inequalities (i.e., in incomes, gender composition). Lastly, the research analyzes the processes through which specific, socially differentiated migrant contributions, such as remittances and social support, lead to changes in health status among the non-migrant population. The research will analyze existing quantitative data and collect new qualitative data for both countries to provide a comparative investigation into the patterns and dynamics linking migrant network inequalities to health disparities among those left behind.The project will contribute insights relevant to researchers and policy-makers involved in population and health fields in developing countries. Non-migrants constitute a particularly vulnerable population, routinely facing higher rates of poverty and disease than the majority of the migrant population. Kin networks remain the only safety net available for most rural people in both Bangladesh and Indonesia. The project will provide understanding of the operation and effectiveness of these networks in the provision of health resources and ultimately health status. In so doing, the project will further understanding of the ways in which out-migration affects the health of rural non-migrants, and it could help identify new strategies for development and health care intervention