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Background: Switzerland ranks among the top three healthcare systems in the world with regards to healthcare access, suggesting a high degree of health equity. However, Switzerland has few preventive strategies against smoking abuse. The aim of this study is to clarify whether educational level and citizenship status have an influence on the prevalence of smoking in Switzerland and whether there is health inequity related to a lack of preventive strategies. Methods: We based our analysis on publicly available health data published in the Swiss government's Swiss health survey (1992-2017). We compared the prevalence of smoking across the years and correlated these data with levels of educational attainment, citizenship status and age. Results: A continuous significant decline in smokers is observed in the highest education group (TERT). Over time, prevalence was reduced from 29% in 1992 to 23% in 2017 (p < 0.001). The intermediate-level educational group (SEK 2) showed smaller but also significant decline on a 0.05 sigificance level over the same period, from 31% to 29% (p = 0.003). The lowest educational group showed a nonsignificant decline from 28% to 27% (p = 0.6). The population who holds Swiss citizenship showed a decrease in smoking from 28% to 26% within the time frame (p < 0.001). People without Swiss citizenship had amuch higher prevalence of smokers, at 38% in 1992 and declining to 32% in 2017 (p < 0.001). All cohorts from age 15 to age 64 have a far higher prevalence of smokers than cohorts at an older age, with the highest prevalence in the 25-34 age group. Conclusion: In Switzerland, individuals with lower levels of education and non-Swiss populations are more susceptible to health risk of smoking. This isdespite the existence of a high-quality healthcare system that has nevertheless failed to negated health inequities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the context of increased global mobility, it is fundamental to understand migrants' needs and how governments can ensure equal health opportunities for both regular and irregular migrants simply by applying low-cost primary health care measures. To identify health issues in which to intervene, this study analysed the impact of a mother's lack of legal status, together with available biological and socioeconomic characteristics, on four indicators of adverse perinatal outcomes in Switzerland. Methods: Based on the exhaustive records of the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO) for its Vital Statistics (BEVNAT), different indicators of birth outcomes, including preterm birth (PTB), low and very low birth weight (LBW and VLBW), and small for gestational age (SGA), were analysed using logistic regressions on live births occurring from 2005 to 2018. These four adverse outcomes were defined as dependent variables. Statistical analysis was performed using the statistical package STATA, version 17. Results: Selected pregnancy outcomes were conversely affected by an irregular legal status. Analysis run on the final sample showed that, compared to the neonates of mothers who are non-migrant legal residents in Switzerland, newborns of irregular migrants have higher risks of PTB (aOR 1.18 95% CI [1.05-1.32], p<0.01) and VLBW (aOR 1.43 [1.13-1.81], p < 0.01]). In contrast, we observed that in both irregular and regular migrant groups, the odds of SGA were lowered (aOR.76 [.68-.85] p<0.01) and aOR.93 [.91-.94], p< 0.01, respectively). A similar effect was observed when controlling for any adverse outcome (any AOs) (aOR.90 [.83-.99] p 0.022; and aOR.93 [.91-.94] p< 0.01, respectively). Conclusions: Our results, together with those from the available literature, call for a more comprehensive assessment of all pregnancy outcomes as well as of the social determinants of health for which the analysis was adjusted. Given the complexity of the migration phenomenon, future studies should account for local structural restrictions in the organization of care, the extension of a person's network as a means of health care accessibility, diverse backgrounds and cultures and the recent arrival status of migrants. This would allow researchers to understand the long-term impact of social determinants of health on the wellbeing of a mother and child and take them into account in the adoption of health policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The marked increase of asylum seekers arriving in Western Europe after 2014 has renewed debates on policy measures that countries should put into place to support their integration. Although implemented by many countries in recent years, research has neglected the effect of integration policy reform packages combining economic and social policy measures on asylum‐related immigrants' adjustment processes. Exploiting a comprehensive integration policy reform in Switzerland, using survey data from the Health Monitoring of the Swiss Migrant Population, and registering data on the whole asylum‐related population, our difference‐in‐differences analyses reveal that provisionally admitted individuals benefiting from the reform have higher employment probability, increased income levels, better language skills, and feel less lonely or without a homeland relative to comparable asylum seekers who did not benefit from the reform. Robustness checks assessing common pre‐reform trends support our findings, which highlight the importance of evaluating entire reform packages when assessing integration policies' effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses linked Swiss administrative and survey data to examine the relationship between educational mismatch in the labour market and emigration decisions, carrying out the analysis for both Swiss native and previous immigrant workers. In turn, migrants' decisions separate returning home from onward migration to a third country. We find that undereducation is positively associated with the probability of emigration and return to the country of origin. In contrast, the reverse relationship is found between overeducation and emigration, especially among non-European immigrant workers. According to the predictions of the traditional model of migration, based on self-selection, migrants returning home are positively selected relative to migrants emigrating to other countries. We also find that immigrants from a country outside the EU27/EFTA have little incentive to return home and generally accept jobs for which they are mismatched in Switzerland. These results highlight the relevance to understand emigration behaviours in relation to the type of migrant that is most integrated, and productive, in the Swiss market, hence enabling better migration and domestic labour market policy design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a country to efficiently monitor international migration, quick access to information on migration flows is helpful. However, traditional data sources fail to provide immediate information on migration flows and do not facilitate the correct anticipation of these flows in the short term. To tackle this issue, this paper evaluates the predictive capacity of big data to estimate the current level or to predict short-term flows. The results show that Google Trends can provide information that reflects the attractiveness of Switzerland for to immigrants from different countries and predict, to some extent, current and future (short-term) migration flows of adults arriving from Spain or Italy. However, the predictions appear not to be satisfactory for other flows (from France and Germany). Additional studies based on alternative approaches are needed to validate or overturn our study results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1971 the Swiss Federal Statistical Office has published annual fertility data split by nationality (Swiss/foreign). These indicate that the TFR for women of foreign nationality has been 0.5 children higher than for Swiss women for most of the period since 1991. However, statistics from household registration (STATPOP) and the Families and Generations Surveys (FGS) in 2013 and 2018 indicate that foreign women, approaching the end of their reproductive lives, have slightly smaller families than women of Swiss nationality. The purpose of this paper is to reconcile these contradictory fertility measures. To do this, we design a novel methodology for tallying the fertility of cohorts of Swiss and foreign nationals through their reproductive life. In addition to birth registrations and population totals by age (the input data for calculating the TFR) we also include estimates of how many children women have at the time of their immigration, emigration and naturalisation. Using these input data, we compile the fertility profiles of Swiss and foreign women aged 15-49 (cohorts 1966-2003). These correspond well with the FGS and household register data. Several processes impact the final fertility of the two sub-populations. Women frequently immigrate into Switzerland in their 20s. Often arriving childless, they commonly start childbearing soon after immigration. However, there is still a flow of low-fertility women into the country in their 30s and 40s, lowering the average fertility of the foreign population. By contrast, Swiss women start childbearing later and a signifi cant proportion remain childless; however, after starting childbearing they have a higher propensity than foreign women to have a second and third child. Naturalisation and fertility are interlinked; women with children are more likely to naturalise than those without, which then boosts the average fertility of the Swiss population. We confirm that the standard TFR gives an inflated impression of the ultimate (cohort) fertility of foreign nationals and under-estimates that of Swiss women, and we describe how this happens. Fundamentally, the TFR is a measure of childbearing intensity, not an accurate estimate of completed cohort fertility, especially for a mobile population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In 2011 Switzerland reported the highest infant mortality rate among Western European countries, as well as the highest percentage of foreign population (23%). The comparison of the Swiss and foreign population in terms of reproductive health has received so far insufficient attention. The aim of the present study is to analyze the infant (IMR) and neonatal mortality rates (NMR) of Swiss and foreign children over the last 30 years.Methods: Vital statistics from the period 1980 to 2011 were used to compute IMR and NMR according to year and/or citizenship. The main analyses were made contrasting Swiss versus foreigners as a single category, as well as by country of origin. Comparisons between groups were done using relative risks.Results: In 1980-1989, IMR was 14% higher among foreign children as compared to Swiss children, and NMR 28% higher. In 2006-2010, IMR was 18% higher among foreign children than among Swiss children, and NMR 29% higher. The highest gap of IMR was observed during the period 1990-1993 (+21%). Looking at single countries, in 2008-2010 children of migrants from Germany, Portugal, Turkey, Italy, France, Kosovo and Spain had a higher level of IMR as compared to Swiss children.Conclusions: The analysis of vital statistics confirms that over the last 30 years the gap of IMR and NMR between Swiss and foreign children has not decreased. Whatever the combination of mechanisms, which cause the observed difference, this fundamental inequity needs to be investigated and remedied by a large scale, concerted effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Population (1634-2941) is the property of Institut National d'Etudes Demographiques and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the prevalence of self-reported cardiovascular risk factors differs between immigrants and Swiss nationals. This study is a secondary data analysis of the Swiss Health Survey 2002, a cross-sectional survey. In total, 19,249 individuals living in Switzerland were included. The prevalence of hypertension, high cholesterol level, smoking, diabetes, overweight, low fruit and vegetable intake, and physical inactivity were calculated for major immigrant groups and Swiss nationals. Demographic data were used to control for age and socioeconomic status. Major immigrant groups were people from Italy, Germany, former Yugoslavia, Spain, Portugal, France, and Turkey. Compared with Swiss women, women from former Yugoslavia were more likely to have hypertension, and women from Germany were more likely to have high cholesterol levels. Women from Italy, former Yugoslavia, Spain, Portugal, and Turkey were more likely to show physical inactivity and (except Turkish women) to be overweight. Men from these countries (except Spanish men) were more likely to be overweight than Swiss men. Differences exist in the prevalence of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors between Swiss nationals and many of the immigrant groups. Age and socioeconomic status could only partly explain the differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Population (00324663) is the property of Institut National d'Etudes Demographiques and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Population (1634-2941) is the property of Institut National d'Etudes Demographiques and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Many studies on the generational social mobility of immigrant populations have taken into account the socio-economic characteristics of the immigrant groups on the one hand, and the historical and economic conditions of the receiving society, including the legal framework, on the other. However, little attention has so far been paid to the juridical status of immigrant groups. This paper explores the variation in education and employment performance of young people from different immigrant origins (Italians, Portuguese, Turks, Croats, Kosovars and Serbs) and of different citizenship statuses - naturalised, non-naturalised, and Swiss-by-birth. Inter-ethnic group variations become much more muted when social origin and length of stay are controlled for; however, they do not disappear altogether. Naturalised immigrant youth perform best; indeed in many cases, where they are Swiss-born, they out-perform native Swiss. This performance, however, is overlooked by Swiss society because the acquisition of Swiss citizenship makes it statistically invisible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of International Migration & Integration is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article presents a critical reply to the article "Warum die junge Frau den Mann verlässt oder die Wichtigkeit von Replikationen in der empirischen Forschung: Kommentar zu « Divorcer en Suisse: Effets des facteurs individuels, de mise en couple et de couple », in SZfS 27/2," by Kurt Schmidheiny. The authors counter Schmidheiny's representation of the data on divorce in Switzerland, especially in his calculation of the divorce rates of men more than five years older than their wives.

Copyright of Swiss Journal of Sociology / Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Soziologie is the property of Sciendo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Swiss Journal of Sociology / Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Soziologie is the property of Sciendo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Low birthweight and preterm birth are associated with an increased risk of neonatal death and chronic conditions across the life course. Reducing these adverse birth outcomes is a global public health priority and requires strategies to improve health care during pregnancy. We aimed to assess the effect of a Swiss health policy expansion fully covering illness-related costs during pregnancy on health outcomes in newborn babies., Methods: We implemented a quasi-experimental difference in regression discontinuity design to assess the effect of expansion of Swiss health insurance (on March 1, 2014), to fully cover health-care costs during pregnancy and 8 weeks postpartum, on neonatal outcomes. Before this reform, only costs specific to the standard monitoring of a normal pregnancy were covered. Babies born before March 1, 2014, and their mothers were assigned to the unexposed group, and babies born on or after March 1, 2014, and their mothers were assigned to the exposed group. We included nearly all children born 2011-19 in Switzerland within a period of 9 months around the date March 1, 2014, and control years 2012, 2016, and 2018. Outcomes were birthweight, low birthweight, very low birthweight, gestational age, preterm or extremely preterm birth, and neonatal death. We estimated the intention-to-treat effect of the policy using parametric regression models., Findings: 61 910 children were born 9 months before and 63 991 were born 9 months after March 1, 2014. 382 861 children were born in the same time period around the three control dates. In the period before policy implementation, mean birthweight was 3289 g, gestational age was 275 days, and 6·5% of children had low birthweight, 1·0% very low birthweight, 7·1% were preterm, 0·4% were extremely preterm, and 0·3% died within the first 28 days of life. After initiation of the policy (vs before) mean birthweight increased by 23 g (95% CI 5 to 40) and the predicted proportion of low birthweight births decreased by 0·81% (0·14 to 1·48) and of very low birthweight births decreased by 0·41% (0·17 to 0·65). The effect on very low birthweight was not robust in sensitivity analyses. The policy had a negligible effect on gestational age (mean difference 1 day, 95% CI 0 to 1) and no clear effects on the other examined outcomes. The change in predicted proportion for preterm births was -0·39% (95% CI -1·2 to 0·38), for extremely preterm births was -0·09% (-0·27 to 0·08), and for neonatal death was -0·07% (-0·2 to 0·07)., Interpretation: Free access to prenatal care in Switzerland reduced the risk of some adverse health outcomes in newborn babies. Expanding health-care coverage is a relevant health system intervention to reduce the risk of adverse health outcomes in the newborn baby and, potentially, across the life course., Funding: Swiss National Science Foundation., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests We declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: The health of undocumented immigrants is an important concern in most societies. However, there is no conclusive evidence that inclusive health care policies lead to better outcomes for this group of the population. The aim of this study is to analyse whether there is an association between inclusive health care policies and the mortality patterns of undocumented immigrants, or the distribution of different causes of death among those who have died., Methods: We analyse individual data concerning the deceased in Switzerland between 2011 and 2017. We proceed in two steps. First, we estimate and compare the patterns of mortality of Swiss citizens, documented immigrants, and undocumented immigrants. Second, we test whether there is an association between cantonal authorities' policies and differing mortality patterns. We use logistic regressions and multinomial regressions to estimate the relationship between legal status and mortality patterns both in Switzerland and across different cantons., Results: We find a difference in the patterns of mortality between undocumented immigrants and the other groups of the population. Specifically, death from circulatory system diseases is twice as frequent among undocumented immigrants compared to documented immigrants and Swiss citizens. However, this difference is smaller in the Swiss cantons that have more inclusive health care policies towards undocumented immigrants., Conclusions: We interpret these results as an indication that policies that expand access to health services lead to better outcomes for undocumented immigrants. This finding has implications for research on civic stratification and public health. Further analysis is needed to evaluate the effects of extending public health care for undocumented immigrants in different contexts., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Objectives: We examined the effect of the mother's origin and socio-economic characteristics on adverse perinatal outcomes in Switzerland., Methods: Births occurring from 2011 to 2017 were identified in the Swiss population register and merged with the Swiss civil register and the Register of the first pillar to obtain information on the migration origin and socio-economic level. Four indicators of adverse perinatal outcomes were defined., Results: Logistic regressions show that both the migration origin and the socio-economic level are measured by the parents' income, influence risk. Compared to the children of mothers born in Switzerland, those of mothers from EU/EFTA countries have a lower risk of infant mortality, low birth weight and extreme prematurity. The highest risk is observed for children born to mothers from the rest of the world. High levels of risk consistently characterize children with low-income parents (first decile)., Conclusions: Our results justify further investigations at the level of health services to better identify the factors causing differences in the prevalence of adverse outcomes and to take them into account in adapted health policies.

Objectives: To test whether maternal mortality was higher among immigrant women than Swiss women., Methods: All maternal deaths and live births in Switzerland from 1969 to 2006 from official vital statistics were considered. We calculated maternal mortality ratios (MMRs) in four time intervals (1969-1979, 1980-1989, 1990-1999, 2000-2006) for both Swiss and immigrant women overall, and for Italian, Spanish and Turkish women. We also computed the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of maternal mortality over the four time periods, considering maternal deaths as cases, and live births as controls., Results: From 1969 to 2006 there were 279 maternal deaths, 204 of Swiss women and 75 of immigrant women. Women's age, marital status and cause of death were similar in the two groups. For immigrant women, the crude odds ratio of a pregnancy ending with maternal death, not homogeneous across the four periods, was 4.38 (95% CI 1.88-10.55) in 2000-2006., Conclusions: Immigrant women have a higher risk of maternal mortality than Swiss women. A closer scrutiny of risk factors and quality of care is necessary to identify opportunities for prevention.

Background: More than 20% of people living in Switzerland are immigrants, defined as people with foreign nationality. This study examines health disparities between the main immigrant groups in Switzerland and the majority Swiss population., Methods: Epidemiological analysis of the 2002 Swiss Health Survey (SHS): the SHS contains health-related information about 19,706 people who were randomly sampled from among people living in Switzerland. Bi-variate and multivariate analyses of six variables on self-reported health were performed., Findings: The data from the 2002 Swiss Health Survey provide some evidence of health disparities between Swiss people and immigrants. Although the self-reported health of "Northern immigrants" (people from Germany and France) does not differ significantly from that of the majority Swiss population, "Southern immigrants" (people from Italy, Former Yugoslavia, Portugal, Spain and Turkey) report lower levels of health in several areas. Lower levels of health are particularly likely to be reported by Italian men and women., Conclusion: The self-reported health of immigrants is currently inferior to that of the Swiss. If it is the position of the Swiss health care system to ensure equal health provision for all Swiss residents, including immigrant groups, and to strive for equal health outcomes for all, self-reported ill health among immigrants is a useful basis for health policy and planning.

Objectives: To explore the issues of pregnancy and delivery in migrant women in their interaction with the Swiss healthcare system., Methods: Focus groups were conducted with women of the Turkish and Portuguese communities. Swiss women were included as the reference group. Interpreters were used when needed. Group discussions were recorded and transcribed; all communications were categorized by specific themes and subdivided as to content., Results: Eight focus groups were held: there were a total of 40 participants including 14 Turkish, 17 Portuguese, 9 Swiss. The study revealed that migrant women in Switzerland face stressful situations, which may differ according to nationality and length of stay in the country. Main factors negatively affecting pregnancy were stress due to precarious living conditions, heavy work during pregnancy, inadequate communication with healthcare providers, and feelings of racism and discrimination in society., Conclusions: Main findings of this qualitative study confirm that migrant communities need focused health attention because of numerous barriers to healthcare experienced in Switzerland. Improving the reproductive health of the migrant community is a priority that can be addressed by public health interventions, including integration of migrants into the society, strict observance of labor regulations, improved communication with healthcare providers, and better information targeting migrant communities.

Objectives: Seek to explain the declining mortality rates observed in Switzerland using a different approach from conventional period analyses., Methods: Analysis of the mortality rates for cohorts born between 1880 and 1980 in Switzerland., Results: While the mortality transition was a constant feature of the 20th century, mortality receded most sharply among the 1900 to 1940 birth cohorts. Life expectancy gains were much lower for the pre-1900 cohorts, while early trends for the post-1940 cohorts point to a slowdown in the rate of mortality decline. These findings may be connected with the social and health conditions in which the different cohorts lived., Conclusion: In contrast to the cross-sectional analysis, the longitudinal approach shows that the decline in mortality suddenly stops with the 1940 cohort.