The social capital gradient: How migration, legal status and racialisation stratify social support in a high-migration neighbourhood in southern Europe
1
Department of Public Health, History of Science and Gynaecology, Miguel Hernández University (UMH), Alicante, Spain
2
CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
3
Department of Sociology and Social Work, University of Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Leioa, Spain
4
Research Group Social Determinants of Health and Demographic Change, OPIK, Leioa, Spain
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):A2718
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Social capital (SC) is a key social determinant of health, shaping access to resources, coping capacity, and well-being^1. However, its distribution is structured by social determinants such as gender, legal status, and education, especially in marginalised contexts, creating inequalities in the availability and effectiveness of social support^2. We aimed to explore differences in SC across migrant profiles in a high-migration urban neighbourhood in Elche, Spain.
METHODS:
We conducted a cross-sectional study of a representative sample of adults (n= 600). SC was estimated using an assistance-related scale^3 (0-10) across four profiles, intersecting country of birth, legal status, and ethnicity (non-racialised natives, racialised natives, regularised migrants, and non-regularised migrants). We described median scores and interquartile ranges (IQR) for SC, followed by multivariable quantile regression (τ= 0.5) with bootstrap replications, adjusted for age, gender and education.
RESULTS:
Non-racialised natives significantly reported the highest SC median scores (8.0 [IQR: 6.7–10]), followed by regularised migrants (7.1 [IQR: 6.3–10]), racialised natives (7.0 [IQR: 6.3–8.8]), and non-regularised migrants (6.3 [IQR: 4.5–7.6]). Compared with non-racialised natives, the adjusted quantile regression showed that irregular migrants had significantly lower SC median scores (β= −1.87, p<0.001). Both racialised natives (predominantly Roma) and regularised migrants showed similar magnitudes but lower scores compared to non-racialised natives (β= −0.92, p= 0.042 and β= −0.90, p= 0.026, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS:
In this high-migration urban neighbourhood, social capital is stratified by country of birth, ethnicity and legal status. These findings suggest that in marginalised urban settings, SC is shaped less by individual characteristics than by individuals' structural positioning within legal and racial hierarchies. Legal precarity and racialisation appear to constrain access to supportive social networks. Such patterns may constitute an upstream driver of health inequities, highlighting the need for structural responses to legal precarity and systemic racism to improve health and advance health equity.
Social capital (SC) is a key social determinant of health, shaping access to resources, coping capacity, and well-being^1. However, its distribution is structured by social determinants such as gender, legal status, and education, especially in marginalised contexts, creating inequalities in the availability and effectiveness of social support^2. We aimed to explore differences in SC across migrant profiles in a high-migration urban neighbourhood in Elche, Spain.
METHODS:
We conducted a cross-sectional study of a representative sample of adults (n= 600). SC was estimated using an assistance-related scale^3 (0-10) across four profiles, intersecting country of birth, legal status, and ethnicity (non-racialised natives, racialised natives, regularised migrants, and non-regularised migrants). We described median scores and interquartile ranges (IQR) for SC, followed by multivariable quantile regression (τ= 0.5) with bootstrap replications, adjusted for age, gender and education.
RESULTS:
Non-racialised natives significantly reported the highest SC median scores (8.0 [IQR: 6.7–10]), followed by regularised migrants (7.1 [IQR: 6.3–10]), racialised natives (7.0 [IQR: 6.3–8.8]), and non-regularised migrants (6.3 [IQR: 4.5–7.6]). Compared with non-racialised natives, the adjusted quantile regression showed that irregular migrants had significantly lower SC median scores (β= −1.87, p<0.001). Both racialised natives (predominantly Roma) and regularised migrants showed similar magnitudes but lower scores compared to non-racialised natives (β= −0.92, p= 0.042 and β= −0.90, p= 0.026, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS:
In this high-migration urban neighbourhood, social capital is stratified by country of birth, ethnicity and legal status. These findings suggest that in marginalised urban settings, SC is shaped less by individual characteristics than by individuals' structural positioning within legal and racial hierarchies. Legal precarity and racialisation appear to constrain access to supportive social networks. Such patterns may constitute an upstream driver of health inequities, highlighting the need for structural responses to legal precarity and systemic racism to improve health and advance health equity.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
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