Geographical, social and area type mobility: trajectories of selective sorting over time by health status and ethnic group 

ESRC White Rose Doctoral Training Centre Network Studentship 

Closing date extended: Monday 5 March 2012 (FILLED)

Supervisors

Dr Paul Norman, School of Geography, University of Leeds & Dr Dimitris Ballas, School of Geography, University of Sheffield.

Project Description

A large body of research demonstrates inequalities in health by ethnic group, social class, geographical and area deprivation with evidence showing that health gradients may be increasing. An under-researched aspect is that over time, changing health gradients and ethnic profiles may be due to selective sorting between social classes and areas. Blackman (2006: 92) notes trends in the UK for increasing residential segregation by ethnicity and social class due to the spatial sorting of households with “few studies taking into account population mobility in investigating relationships between neighbourhood conditions and health.” Since different ethnic groups have distinctive occupational, residential and mobility patterns by geographical locations it will be revealing to investigate health selective sorting with an ethnic perspective. If we are attempting to identify whether ethnic group, social class and geographical health inequalities are changing, a fundamental problem with many studies is that they tend to be cross-sectional. Except for those using longitudinal data, they cannot account for change over time. This is important because of various processes:

  • Social mobility: People’s social class can change if they change employment circumstances;
  • Geographical mobility: People change their locations through migration. This affects the counts of healthy and unhealthy persons and the ethnic diversity in their origin and destination areas;
  • Changes in socio-spatial context: Places can change both through new house building and regeneration. People’s locations can therefore become more or less deprived without them moving to another area.

Many studies investigate these processes separately but to date no work has taken a more holistic approach and considered whether the relationship between social mobility and health may be exaggerated when a change of occupation is accompanied by a change of residential address and a change in the type of area in which an individual lives. Thus we might anticipate that a person’s health might benefit from a promotion, a move to a more advantaged region and a change from a more to a less deprived residential area and vice versa. In an increasingly diverse society, it will be revealing to investigate these processes by ethnic group.

Objectives

This research aims to answer the following questions:

  1. Are changing patterns of health inequalities consistent for different ethnic groups?
  2. How much of the widening health gap identified for the total population can be explained by ethnic selective social and geographic sorting?
  3. Do different propensities to migrate and for upward social mobility by ethnic group lead to residualised populations? Are minority groups more prone to immobility in relation to their health status?
  4. Can past trends be projected to thereby estimate scenarios of health outcomes by ethnic group and geographic area?

How to apply

Closing date for applications: Monday 5 March 2012

References

  • Blackman T (2006) Placing Health: Neighbourhood renewal, health improvement and complexity. Policy Press: Bristol

Bibliography

  • Bartley M & Plewis I (1997) Does health-selective mobility account for socioeconomic differences in health? Evidence from England and Wales, 1971 to 1991. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 38, 376-386
  • Boyle P, Norman P & Rees P (2004) Changing places: do changes in the relative deprivation of areas influence limiting long-term illness and mortality among non-migrant people living in non-deprived households? Social Science & Medicine. 58: 2459-2471
  • Chandola T (2001) Ethnic and class differences in health in relation to British South Asians: using the new National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification. Social Science and Medicine 52 1285–1296
  • Curtis S & Lawson K (2000) Gender, ethnicity and self-reported health: the case of African-Caribbean populations in London. Social Science & Medicine 50: 365-385
  • Fielding A (1992) Migration and social change. In Stillwell J, Rees P and Boden P (eds) Migration Patterns and Processes, Vol. 2. Belhaven: London
  • Heath A & Smith S (2003) Mobility and ethnic minorities. New Economy: 199-204
  • Norman P, Boyle P & Rees P (2005) Selective migration, health and deprivation: a longitudinal analysis. Social Science & Medicine 60(12): 2755-2771
  • Platt L (2005) Migration and social mobility: the life chances of Britain’s minority ethnic communities. The Policy Press: Bristol