Migrants’ and Natives’ Attitudes toward Public Healthcare Provision in Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands

Abstract

Public healthcare is still one of the main pillars of European welfare states, despite the increasing number of migrants, we know little about migrants’ attitudes toward healthcare. We used recent data from the MIFARE survey and compared natives with a variety of nine migrant groups living in Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands, focusing on migrants’ preferred level of governmental involvement and their satisfaction with public healthcare. We found that, compared to natives, migrants held the government less responsible for providing healthcare while expressing a higher level of satisfaction. Whereas health differences among migrants and natives did not explain this ethnic gap, we found that these ethnic gaps are moderated by socialization processes and knowledge of healthcare rights.