IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v380y2025ics0277953625005064.html

Healthcare services for low-wage migrant workers: A systematic review

Author

Listed:
  • Rast, Eilin
  • Lau, Karen
  • Lin, Rosita Chia-Yin
  • Loganathan, Tharani
  • Hargreaves, Sally
  • Zimmerman, Cathy

Abstract

Low-wage labour migrants often face health-damaging living and working conditions, but are frequently excluded from healthcare. The othering of migrants, bordering of healthcare and simple oversight and negligence create widening health inequalities for a society's essential workers. This review aimed to identify the forms and effectiveness of healthcare services designed to make healthcare accessible for migrant workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Rast, Eilin & Lau, Karen & Lin, Rosita Chia-Yin & Loganathan, Tharani & Hargreaves, Sally & Zimmerman, Cathy, 2025. "Healthcare services for low-wage migrant workers: A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 380(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:380:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625005064
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118176
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953625005064
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118176?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michaela Hynie & Annie Jaimes & Anna Oda & Marjolaine Rivest-Beauregard & Laura Perez Gonzalez & Nicole Ives & Farah Ahmad & Ben C. H. Kuo & Neil Arya & Nimo Bokore & Kwame McKenzie, 2022. "Assessing Virtual Mental Health Access for Refugees during the COVID-19 Pandemic Using the Levesque Client-Centered Framework: What Have We Learned and How Will We Plan for the Future?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-17, April.
    2. Frank Pega & Srinivasan Govindaraj & Nguyen Toan Tran, 2021. "Health service use and health outcomes among international migrant workers compared with non-migrant workers: A systematic review and meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-18, June.
    3. Tharani Loganathan & Deng Rui & Chiu-Wan Ng & Nicola Suyin Pocock, 2019. "Breaking down the barriers: Understanding migrant workers’ access to healthcare in Malaysia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(7), pages 1-24, July.
    4. Grove, Natalie J. & Zwi, Anthony B., 2006. "Our health and theirs: Forced migration, othering, and public health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(8), pages 1931-1942, April.
    5. Grimshaw, Damian., 2011. "What do we know about low wage work and low wage workers? : Analysing the definitions, patterns, causes and consequences in international perspective," ILO Working Papers 994648583402676, International Labour Organization.
    6. Tianyuan Luo & Cesar L. Escalante, 2018. "Health care service utilization of documented and undocumented hired farmworkers in the U.S," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 19(7), pages 923-934, September.
    7. Pfeiffer, J. & Johnson, W. & Fort, M. & Shakow, A. & Hagopian, A. & Gloyd, S. & Gimbel-Sherr, K., 2008. "Strengthening health systems in poor countries: A code of conduct for nongovernmental organizations," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 98(12), pages 2134-2140.
    8. Tharani Loganathan & Zhie X Chan & Nicola S Pocock, 2020. "Healthcare financing and social protection policies for migrant workers in Malaysia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(12), pages 1-20, December.
    9. Nicola Mucci & Veronica Traversini & Gabriele Giorgi & Giacomo Garzaro & Javier Fiz-Perez & Marcello Campagna & Venerando Rapisarda & Eleonora Tommasi & Manfredi Montalti & Giulio Arcangeli, 2019. "Migrant Workers and Physical Health: An Umbrella Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-22, January.
    10. Bastian A. Vollmer, 2021. "Categories, Practices and the Self – Reflections on Bordering, Ordering and Othering," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 112(1), pages 4-10, February.
    11. Conor J. Newton & Ayalvadi Ganesh & Henry W. J. Reeve, 2023. "Asymptotic Optimality for Decentralised Bandits," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 307-325, March.
    12. Matthew J Page & Joanne E McKenzie & Patrick M Bossuyt & Isabelle Boutron & Tammy C Hoffmann & Cynthia D Mulrow & Larissa Shamseer & Jennifer M Tetzlaff & Elie A Akl & Sue E Brennan & Roger Chou & Jul, 2021. "The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(3), pages 1-15, March.
    13. Cathy Zimmerman & Ligia Kiss, 2017. "Human trafficking and exploitation: A global health concern," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(11), pages 1-11, November.
    14. repec:ilo:ilowps:464858 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Flynn, Matthew B., 2021. "Global capitalism as a societal determinant of health: A conceptual framework," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    16. Frieden, T.R., 2010. "A framework for public health action: The health impact pyramid," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(4), pages 590-595.
    17. Reeves, Aaron & McKee, Martin & Mackenbach, Johan & Whitehead, Margaret & Stuckler, David, 2017. "Introduction of a national minimum wage reduceddepressive symptoms in low-wage workers:a quasi-natural experiment in the UK," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 66485, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Aaron Reeves & Martin McKee & Johan Mackenbach & Margaret Whitehead & David Stuckler, 2017. "Introduction of a National Minimum Wage Reduced Depressive Symptoms in Low‐Wage Workers: A Quasi‐Natural Experiment in the UK," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(5), pages 639-655, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Subir K. Chakrabarti & Srikant Devaraj & Pankaj C. Patel, 2021. "Minimum wage and restaurant hygiene violations: Evidence from Seattle," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(1), pages 85-99, January.
    2. Lenhart, Otto, 2021. "The effects of minimum wages on teenage birth rates," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    3. Andrea Fazio & Tommaso Reggiani, 2022. "Minimum wage and tolerance for inequality," MUNI ECON Working Papers 2022-07, Masaryk University, revised Feb 2023.
    4. Laetitia Lebihan, 2023. "Minimum wages and health: evidence from European countries," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 85-107, March.
    5. Weiler, Anelyse M. & Caxaj, C. Susana, 2024. "Housing, health equity, and global capitalist power: Migrant farmworkers in Canada," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 354(C).
    6. Koch, Andreas & Kirchmann, Andrea & Reiner, Marcel & Scheu, Tobias & Boockmann, Bernhard & Bonin, Holger, 2018. "Verhaltensmuster von Betrieben und Beschäftigten im Zuge der Einführung des gesetzlichen Mindestlohns," IZA Research Reports 84, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Filiz Gülal & Adam Ayaita, 2020. "The Impact of Minimum Wages on Well-Being: Evidence from a Quasi-experiment in Germany," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(7), pages 2669-2692, October.
    8. Maczulskij, Terhi & Haapanen, Mika & Kauhanen, Antti & Riukula, Krista, 2024. "Decentralized wage bargaining and health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    9. Elsenburg, Leonie K. & Nicolaou, Mary & Galenkamp, Henrike & Lakerveld, Jeroen & Stronks, Karien, 2025. "The clustering of disadvantage in different life dimensions across ethnic groups: A network analysis of indicators of precariousness in the HELIUS study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 375(C).
    10. Kyutaro Matsuzawa & Daniel I. Rees & Joseph J. Sabia & Rebecca Margolit, 2025. "Minimum Wages and Teenage Childbearing in the United States," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(4), pages 471-484, June.
    11. Lucas Hafner & Benjamin Lochner, 2022. "Do minimum wages improve self-rated health? Evidence from a natural experiment," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(6), pages 2989-3014, June.
    12. Koch, Andreas & Kirchmann, Andrea & Reiner, Marcel & Scheu, Tobias & Zühlke, Anne & Bonin, Holger, 2020. "Verhaltensmuster von Betrieben und Beschäftigten im Kontext des gesetzlichen Mindestlohns," IZA Research Reports 97, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Buszkiewicz, James H. & Hajat, Anjum & Hill, Heather D. & Otten, Jennifer J. & Drewnowski, Adam, 2023. "Racial, ethnic, and gender differences in the association between higher state minimum wages and health and mental well-being in US adults with low educational attainment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    14. Susan L. Averett & Julie K. Smith & Yang Wang, 2018. "Minimum Wages and the Health of Hispanic Women," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 1(4), pages 217-239, December.
    15. Vandoros, Sotiris & Avendano, Mauricio & Kawachi, Ichiro, 2019. "The association between economic uncertainty and suicide in the short-run," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 403-410.
    16. Allegretto, Sylvia & Nadler, Carl, 2020. "Minimum Wages and Health: A Reassessment," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt98f1p6h7, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    17. Ayaita, Adam, 2022. "Does Money Change Who You Are? Quasi-Experimental Evidence on the Effects of Wage Increases on Personality," EconStor Preprints 256931, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    18. Maczulskij, Terhi & Haapanen, Mika & Kauhanen, Antti & Riukula, Krista, 2021. "Dark Half: Decentralized Bargaining and Well-being at Work," ETLA Working Papers 89, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    19. Anthony Lepinteur, 2021. "The asymmetric experience of gains and losses in job security on health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(9), pages 2217-2229, September.
    20. Liu, Yang & Luan, Lin & Wu, Weilong & Zhang, Zhiqiang & Hsu, Yen, 2021. "Can digital financial inclusion promote China's economic growth?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:380:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625005064. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.