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Leaving for life: using online crowd-sourced genealogies to estimate the migrant mortality advantage for the United Kingdom and Ireland during the 18 th and 19 th centuries

Author

Listed:
  • Elena Pojman

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

  • Duke Elijah Mwedzi

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

  • Orlando Olaya Bucaro

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

  • Stephanie Zhang

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

  • Michael Chong
  • Monica Alexander

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

  • Diego Alburez-Gutierrez

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

Abstract

Demographic studies consistently find a mortality advantage among migrants, but a lack of longitudinal data tracking individuals across national borders has limited the study of historical international migration. To address this gap, we use the crowd-sourced online genealogical database Familinx to estimate the migrant mortality advantage for migrants from the United Kingdom and Ireland between 1750 and 1910. We compare age at death for non-migrants and migrants to Canada, the United States, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia using mixed-effects regression models that account for unobserved factors shared between siblings. Results suggest an overall expected migrant advantage of 5.9 years, 95% CI [5.7, 6.2] even after accounting for between-family variation, with migrants estimated to live an additional 2.6 [1.1, 4.0] to 8.7 [6.3, 11.2] years depending on the country of destination. This study contributes to the understanding of the migrant mortality advantage in a historical context and shows the potential for online genealogies to contribute to demographic research. Keywords: crowd-sourced genealogies, migrant mortality advantage, United Kingdom, Ireland, sibling effects

Suggested Citation

  • Elena Pojman & Duke Elijah Mwedzi & Orlando Olaya Bucaro & Stephanie Zhang & Michael Chong & Monica Alexander & Diego Alburez-Gutierrez, 2023. "Leaving for life: using online crowd-sourced genealogies to estimate the migrant mortality advantage for the United Kingdom and Ireland during the 18 th and 19 th centuries," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2023-050, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2023-050
    DOI: 10.4054/MPIDR-WP-2023-050
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Australia; Canada; New Zealand; United Kingdom; USA; genealogy; migration; mortality; siblings;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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