MPIDR Working Paper

Leaving for life: using online crowd-sourced genealogies to estimate the migrant mortality advantage for the United Kingdom and Ireland between the 18^th and 20^th centuries

Pojman, E., Mwedzi, D. E., Olaya Bucaro, O., Zhang, S., Chong, M., Alexander, M. J., Alburez-Gutierrez, D.

MPIDR Working Paper WP-2023-050, 57 pages.
Rostock, Max-Planck-Institut für demografische Forschung (Dezember 2023)
Revised December 2025. The former title was "Leaving for life: using online crowd-sourced genealogies to estimate the migrant mortality advantage for the United Kingdom and Ireland during the 18^th and 19^th centuries"

DOI:10.4054/MPIDR-WP-2023-050

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Abstract

Demographic studies consistently find a mortality advantage among migrants, but a lack of longitudinal data tracking individuals across national borders has limited the study of historical international migration. To address this gap, we use the crowd-sourced online genealogical database Familinx to estimate the migrant mortality advantage for migrants from the United Kingdom and Ireland born between 1735-1894. We compare age at death for non-migrants and migrants to Canada, the United States, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia using mixed-effects regression models that account for unobserved factors shared between siblings. Results suggest an overall expected migrant advantage of 5.9 years 95% CI [5.7, 6.2] even after accounting for between-family variation, with migrants estimated to live an additional 2.4 [0.8, 4.0] to 7.9 [6.1, 9.6] years depending on the country of destination. This study contributes to the understanding of the migrant mortality advantage in a historical context and shows the potential for online genealogies to contribute to demographic research.