Long-Term Effects of Hosting Refugees on Second Generation Health Outcomes: Evidence From Tanzania

Soazic Elise Wang Sonne

The existing literature investigating the short-term impact of temporary refugee shocks tend to focus on price and consumption outcomes; overlooking the long-run effect on health outcomes of the second generation, born decades after refugees came. We use data from the latest 2015/2016 Tanzanian Demographic and Health Survey collected between August 2015 and February 2016 with migration history of mothers and fathers. By tracking the district location of mothers during the1993-1994 period of high influx of refugees, We study how the sudden and massive influx of Burundi and Rwandese refugees fleeing civil war impacts on health outcomes of children living in Northwest Tanzania today. We exploit a geographical variation considering the distance from each household to the 13 main camps where refugees settled. We find that almost 22 years later, children of parents that were living closer to refugee camps have better health anthropometrics (WAZ, WHZ) and weight at birth.

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 Presented in Session 7. Migration & Urbanization