A non-monetary link between international migration and the nutritional status of migrant households (using the Republic of Armenia as an example)
Abstract
The article analyzes migration as a factor in the nutritional quality of a migrant’s household members remaining in their home country. To assess the quality of nutrition, we calculate a comprehensive nutritional quality index based on the 2015 USDA Center for Food Policy Center HEI methodology. We use the data of the Integrated Household Survey of the Republic of Armenia for 2013-2017. As a result of regression analysis and analysis at the average level, it is revealed that the quality of household nutrition is negatively affected by there being migrants in general, and particularly by the presence of returned migrants. Since differences in income do not explain the difference, we conclude that there is a non-monetary influence of migration on household nutrition. Along the way, the work verifies the findings in the literature concerning the positive impact on nutrition of the presence of women, the elderly, and children, as well as that of living in a big city and having a high level of education and income — all correlations were confirmed for households in the Republic of Armenia. In addition, we include in the analysis a subjective assessment of households' financial condition: households positioning themselves as poorer have higher nutritional quality index values than those who identify themselves as middle class or rich. The differences found lead to the conclusion that the quality of food is not included in the system of key values in Armenian society: when there is an opportunity to choose the style of food, households make a choice for the worse.
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References
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