Does nativity matter? Correlates of immigrant health by generation in the Russian Federation

The Russian Federation has experienced simultaneous declines in health and rises in international migration. Guided by the "healthy migrant effect" found elsewhere, we examine two questions. First, do the foreign-born in the Russian Federation exhibit better overall health than the native-born? Second, to the extent positive health selectivity exists, is it transferred to the second generation? Using the first wave of the Russian Generations and Gender Survey, our findings support the idea of positive health selection among international migrants from non-Slavic regions. The effect of migrant status, regardless of origin, diminishes when age, sex, and native language are taken into account.