We apply multilevel methods to data from Mexico to examine how village migration patterns affect infant survival outcomes in origins. We argue that migration is a cumulative process with varying health effects at different stages of its progression, and test several related hypotheses. Findings suggest higher rates of infant mortality in communities experiencing intense U.S. migration. However, two factors diminish the disruptive effects of migration: migradollars, or migrant remittances to villages, and the institutionalization of migration over time. Mortality risks are low when remittances are high and decrease as migration becomes increasingly salient to livelihoods of communities. Together, the findings indicate eventual benefits to all infants, irrespective of household migration experience, as a result of the development of social and economic processes related to U.S. migration.

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Maternal Age randomization Random Allocation risk Sampling Studies human epidemiology Odds Ratio comparative study Time Factors Logistic Models Mexico family size Family Characteristics interview United States income Humans Infant, Newborn male female Socioeconomic Factors Infant newborn socioeconomics Article Retrospective Studies adult migration Infant Mortality Interviews Emigration and Immigration Analysis of Variance statistical model retrospective study time