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Where Are Socioeconomically Deprived Immigrants Located in Chile? A Spatial Analysis of Census Data Using an Index of Multiple Deprivation from the Last Three Decades (1992-2012)

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Introduction and purpose of the study: Immigrants in Chile have diverse characteristics and include socioeconomically deprived populations. The location of socioeconomically deprived immigrants is important for the development of public policy intelligence at the local and national levels but their areas of residence have not been mapped in Chile. This study explored the spatial distribution of socioeconomic deprivation among immigrants in Chile, 1992-2012, and compared it to the total population. Material and methods: Areas with socioeconomically deprived populations were identified with a deprivation index which we developed modelled upon the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) for England. Our IMD was based upon the indicators of unemployment, low educational level (primary) and disability from Census data at county level for the three decades 1992, 2002 and 2012, for 332, 339 and 343 counties respectively. We developed two versions of the IMD one based on disadvantage among the total population and another focused upon the circumstances of immigrants only. We generated a spatial representation of the IMD using GIS, for the overall IMD score and for each dimension of the index, separately. We also compared the immigrants´ IMD to the total population´s IMD using Pearson´s correlation test. Results: Results showed that socioeconomically deprived immigrants tended to be concentrated in counties in the northern and central area of Chile, in particular within the Metropolitan Region of Santiago. These were the same counties where there was the greatest concentration of socioeconomic deprivation for the total population during the same time periods. Since 1992 there have been significant change in the location of the socioeconomically deprived populations within the Metropolitan Region of Santiago with the highest IMD scores for both the total population and immigrants becoming increasingly concentrated in the central and eastern counties of the Region. Conclusion: This is the first study analysing the spatial distribution of socioeconomic deprivation among international immigrants and the total population in a Latin American country. Findings could inform policy makers about location of areas of higher need of social protection in Chile, for both immigrants and the total resident population in the country.
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Where Are Socioeconomically Deprived
Immigrants Located in Chile? A Spatial
Analysis of Census Data Using an Index of
Multiple Deprivation from the Last Three
Decades (1992-2012)
Andrea Vasquez
1,2
*, Baltica Cabieses
1,3
, Helena Tunstall
4
1Facultad de Medicina Clínica Alemana, Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile, 2National Research
Center for Integrated Natural Disaster Management CIGIDEN, Fondap 15110017, School of Engineering,
Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago, Chile, 3Department of Health Sciences, University of
York, York, England, United Kingdom, 4School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh,
Scotland, United Kingdom
These authors contributed equally to this work.
*andrea.vasquez@cigiden.cl
Abstract
Introduction and Purpose of the Study
Immigrants in Chile have diverse characteristics and include socioeconomically deprived
populations. The location of socioeconomically deprived immigrants is important for the
development of public policy intelligence at the local and national levels but their areas of
residence have not been mapped in Chile. This study explored the spatial distribution of
socioeconomic deprivation among immigrants in Chile, 19922012, and compared it to the
total population.
Material and Methods
Areas with socioeconomically deprived populations were identified with a deprivation index
which we developed modelled upon the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) for England.
Our IMD was based upon the indicators of unemployment, low educational level (primary)
and disability from Census data at county level for the three decades 1992, 2002 and 2012,
for 332, 339 and 343 counties respectively. We developed two versions of the IMD one
based on disadvantage among the total population and another focused upon the circum-
stances of immigrants only. We generated a spatial representation of the IMD using GIS, for
the overall IMD score and for each dimension of the index, separately. We also compared
the immigrants´ IMD to the total population´s IMD using Pearson´s correlation test.
Results
Results showed that socioeconomically deprived immigrants tended to be concentrated in
counties in the northern and central area of Chile, in particular within the Metropolitan
PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047 January 12, 2016 1/19
OPEN ACCESS
Citation: Vasquez A, Cabieses B, Tunstall H (2016)
Where Are Socioeconomically Deprived Immigrants
Located in Chile? A Spatial Analysis of Census Data
Using an Index of Multiple Deprivation from the Last
Three Decades (1992-2012). PLoS ONE 11(1):
e0146047. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047
Editor: Andrew R. Dalby, University of Westminster,
UNITED KINGDOM
Received: August 26, 2015
Accepted: December 11, 2015
Published: January 12, 2016
Copyright: © 2016 Vasquez et al. This is an open
access article distributed under the termsof the
Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original author and source are
credited.
Data Availability Statement: This work was
conducted using freely available Census data from
Chile, which can be downloaded from this Web Page
(1992, 2002): http://www.ine.cl/canales/chile_
estadistico/censos/censo_poblacion_vivienda.php
Census data for 2012 is supported in a SQL
database, physically available in Chilean Institute of
Statistics. For getting more information about the data
availability for censuses 1992, 2002 and 2012 see
the letters provided by the National Institute of
Statistics in Chile: S1 File,S2 File,S3 File and S4
File. For Censuses 1992, 2002 and 2012, databases
Region of Santiago. These were the same counties where there was the greatest concen-
tration of socioeconomic deprivation for the total population during the same time periods.
Since 1992 there have been significant change in the location of the socioeconomically
deprived populations within the Metropolitan Region of Santiago with the highest IMD
scores for both the total population and immigrants becoming increasingly concentrated in
the central and eastern counties of the Region.
Conclusion
This is the first study analysing the spatial distribution of socioeconomic deprivation among
international immigrants and the total population in a Latin American country. Findings
could inform policy makers about location of areas of higher need of social protection in
Chile, for both immigrants and the total resident population in the country.
Introduction
Migration patterns in the world, in Latin America and in Chile
Immigration patterns have different waves and cycles over time. Worldwide, it is estimated
that around 200 million people migrate every year [1,2]. In Latin America and the Caribbean,
some 25 million (about 4% of the total population) had migrated to a different country in 2011
[3,4]. In general, the US is the preferred destination for migrants from Latin American and
Caribbean nations [5,6] and income differences between countries are one of the major rea-
sons for these movement [5,7]. There is also increasing migration within the Latin American
region, predominantly the movement of people living in relatively less developed countries to
more developed ones nearby [2].
Chile is now defined as a high-income country with a Gross Domestic Product per capita of
above $16,000 in 2014 (USD) [8]. In 2014 the country has a population of just over 16 million
inhabitants [9], according to estimates from 2002 Census data, spread across continental, insu-
lar and Antarctic territory. The continental territory is comprised of north, central and south
areas (Fig 1) divided administratively into 15 regions, which are also split into provinces and
counties. Among the total population, 87% live in urban areas and just 13% in rural areas and
forecasts suggest that population is continuing to concentrate in urban areas [10,11]. Santiago,
the city in Chile with the largest population, is located in the Central area. In 2012 the Metro-
politan Region had a population of 6.7 million (based on Census 2002 data estimates), and has
strongly service based employment. In the northern areas of Chile mining is central to the
economy and the south area is focused upon manufacturing and extractive activities [12].
Chile in recent decades has experienced major economic and demographic changes, a pro-
gressive improvement of the health status of the population, a decline in infant and general
mortality rates, and an increase in life expectancy [13,14]. The health status of the Chilean
population is now very similar to that of some more established high-income countries and
better than many other Latin American nations [13,15]. Chile´s economic growth and political
stability in recent decades has made it increasingly attractive as a host country for immigrants,
especially those from other Latin-American countries.
Patterns of immigration to Chile have changed over time. During the 1970s and 1980s
immigration to Chile was mainly from Europe, Arabic countries and East Asia [16]. During
the last two decades, however, rates of immigration from South American countries to Chile
have increased [3]. The latest governmental figures indicate that currently Chile is experiencing
Spatial Analysis of Immigrant's Socioeconomic Deprivation in Chile 1992-2012
PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047 January 12, 2016 2/19
and cartography are available only upon request.
This is public data about census databases, but is not
free downloadable and you have to seek the
information through the corresponding public
institution, according to the 18th Article in the Chilean
Law No. 20.285 about access to public information.
For accessing to the data of cartography and
censuses databases used and cited in the
manuscript, from 1992 to 2012, researchers must
send an e-mail to the National Institute of Statistics
(Chile): transparencia@ine.cl in Spanish language.
Funding: This study was conducted with the support
of the Universidad del Desarrollo research-funding
award 2012 BC (URL: http://www.udd.cl/), and the
Fondecyt research grant number 11130042 from
Conicyt, Chile (2013-2017) BC (URL: http://www.
conicyt.cl/fondecyt/). The funders had no role in study
design, data collection and analysis, decision to
publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared
that no competing interests exist.
Fig 1. Map of Chile: its regions and counties. Source: Andrea Vasquez, Fondecyt 11130042, based on
cartography provided by the National Institute of Statistics.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047.g001
Spatial Analysis of Immigrant's Socioeconomic Deprivation in Chile 1992-2012
PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047 January 12, 2016 3/19
anew immigrationpattern with a majority of immigrants now of Latin American origin and
of working age, seeking labor opportunities [2]. There has also been increasing female immi-
gration in the Latin American region, including Chile [3,17], in particular to work in manual
and domestic services [18].
According to the latest national figures from the Department of Immigration, Chile cur-
rently has 441,000 immigrants, mainly from its three bordering countries, Peru, Argentina and
Bolivia [19]. Immigrants represented about 2.5% of the total of 16 millions of people living in
the country in 2014 [19].
Migration is a complex and dynamic process, influenced by a range of social processes and
individual motivations, such as economic crisis, the search for better career and educational
opportunities, and others. As a result of this complexity, there are several different theories
proposed to explain the causes of international migration including the push and pull theory
[2022], the cumulative causation theory [20,23], the global theory [24,25], and behavioral
theory [26]. Cumulative causation theory is one of the most frequently cited [27]. This dynamic
theory is based on the chain migrationconcept which [20] suggests that before arriving in a
country, immigrants often establish a social network in the foreign country, comprising rela-
tives or friends from their country of origin. This social network may be concentrated in partic-
ular geographical places, and, consequently; such geographical areas (regions, provinces or
neighborhoods) can become places of attraction for other potential migrants. One plausible
effect of this theory is that socioeconomically deprived immigrants may concentrate in geo-
graphical areas [28,29]. Such concentration might be associated with social cohesion and social
support amongst immigrants [30,31], but also with poverty, isolation, stigma and discrimina-
tion from local populations, and lack of connection with government authorities and other res-
idents outside their area of residence [29,32].
Migration and socioeconomic deprivation: its spatial dimension
The possibility that immigrants in Chile are both socioeconomically deprived and spatially con-
centrated suggests the potential value to public policy of developing measures of deprivation
describing their location within the country. In Chile two main approaches have been used to
measure socioeconomically deprived populations in public policy. First, absolute poverty has
been measured by the government using a poverty line equal to household income at or below
$120 USD per capita and per month in urban areas. This poverty line is based on a basic guide-
line of food consumed per month. This method uses data from a socioeconomic survey com-
pleted in Chile each three years since 1985 and is represented at a regional spatial scale [33].
A second approach that has been used to measure deprivation in Chile has been developed
as part of a Latin-American wide assessment of socioeconomically deprived populations. This
approach is based upon Census indicators of a range of basic material and social needs, as indi-
cated by sanitary systems, education, housing quality and overcrowding [34]. This index is
developed for middle income Latin American countries in the region (Chile has been excluded
since 2014) and is used to characterize and compare the different vulnerabilities in Latin Amer-
ican countries. Itsmain methodological limitations are that the variables vary between coun-
tries and over time (e.g. the definition of low level of education is different for each country
and also varies over ten years). It is also available only at the national scale.
Outside of Chile in the last three decades indices describing area deprivation have been
developed in several countries [3537] to describe disadvantage within sub-national areas.
Some of the first of these indices were developed in the UK using data from the 1981 Census to
describe material deprivation in small areas. For example, the Townsend Deprivation index
was developed to measure material disadvantage in neighborhood wards in England using four
Spatial Analysis of Immigrant's Socioeconomic Deprivation in Chile 1992-2012
PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047 January 12, 2016 4/19
equally weighted census indicators: households without a car, overcrowded households, house-
holds not owner-occupied and persons unemployed [38]. Similarly, the Carstairs deprivation
index was devised to measure material deprivation of neighborhood postcode sectors using
four equally weighted measures from the 1981 Census in Scotland: households without a car,
overcrowded households, low social class person and unemployment men [39].
More recently area deprivation indices have been developed that are intended to represent a
broader range of types of deprivation. These indices, like the Latin-American indicators of
unmet needs, assess not only material poverty, but also lack along a range of social dimensions
[3537][40]. These newer indices have also been based upon data from a broader variety of
sources including not only censuses, but also data from administrative sources and surveys.
They have commonly been used to describe neighbourhoods but have also been devised for
large areas [41]. Deprivation indices have also been developed to identify deprivation not only
among the general population [35] but also for specific groups such children [42] and elderly
people [43], or specific types of deprivation such as health deprivation [36].
In this study, we have drawn on principles underlying the English Index of Multiple Depri-
vation (IMD) as a model for our index [41]. IMD has been used extensively in England for spa-
tial analysis related to material deprivation, health and social policy [41]. The English Index of
Multiple Deprivation (2010) conceptualizes area deprivation as multi-dimensional and is a
multi-dimensional index of deprivation. It includes the following dimensions: 1) Income (two
measures: unemployment of the head of the household and household living below the poverty
line), 2) Employment (unique measure of three categories: unemployment, sickness or disabil-
ity), 3) Health and disability (four measures: years of potential life lost, comparative illness and
disability ratio, acute morbidity, mood and anxiety disorders), 4) Education, skills and training
(measured by last completed education level), 5) Barriers to housing and services (physical and
financial access to housing), 6) Crime, any of the following measures: violence, burglary, theft,
criminal damage, 7) Living environment (measures the quality of individualsimmediate sur-
roundings both within and outside the home) [41].
The purpose of this study
While some previous studies have explored the living conditions and health needs of groups of
international immigrants in specific counties in Chile like Santiago and Arica [4446], their expe-
rience of deprivation has not been assessed across the whole of the country. We aimed to fill this
research gap in Chile by describing the spatial location of deprived immigrants in all regions. In
particular, further spatial information is required to develop a strategic plan to support socioeco-
nomically deprived immigrants in Chile. Our research is intended to support this policy goal.
The main objective of this study was to identify areas with high concentrations of socioeco-
nomically deprived immigrants. We also aimed to compare the location of socioeconomically
deprived immigrants to that of socioeconomically deprived people in the wider population.
Lastly, our objective was to assess how the geography of this socioeconomically deprived popu-
lation has changed over time. We aimed to do this by creating indices to measure socioeco-
nomic deprivation, drawing on previous geographical methodologies developed to measure
area disadvantage from the English IMD. Through these analyses we hoped to make a unique
contribution to knowledge regarding international migration in Chile, which could also serve
as a model for other countries in Latin America.
Materials and Methods
We developed our IMD for two different populations, immigrants and total population, at the
county level, over three decades. This work was conducted using freely available Census data
Spatial Analysis of Immigrant's Socioeconomic Deprivation in Chile 1992-2012
PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047 January 12, 2016 5/19
from Chile, which can be downloaded from this Web Page (1992, 2002): http://www.ine.cl/
canales/chile_estadistico/censos/censo_poblacion_vivienda.phpCensus data for 2012 is sup-
ported in a SQL database, physically available in Chilean Institute of Statistics. For getting
more information about the data availability for censuses 1992, 2002 and 2012 see the letters
provided by the National Institute of Statistics in Chile: S1 File,S2 File,S3 File and S4 File. For
Censuses 1992, 2002 and 2012, databases and cartography are available only upon request.
This is public data about census databases, but is not free downloadable and you have to seek
the information through the corresponding public institution, according to the 18th Article in
the Chilean Law No. 20.285 about access to public information. For accessing to the data of
cartography and censuses databases used and cited in the manuscript, from 1992 to 2012,
researchers must send an e-mail to the National Institute of Statistics (Chile): transparen-
cia@ine.cl in Spanish language.
This study is part of the Fondecyt grant number 11130042 (20132017). The protocol was
reviewed by (i) the Ethics Committee at the Faculty of Medicine Clínica Alemana Universidad
del Desarrollo de Chile and (ii) The Ethics Committee at Conicyt Chile (National Commission
for Scientific and Technological Research, Chilean government).
Data Source
The Census in Chile. We calculated our Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) based on
available variables from the Chilean Censuses in 1992, 2002 and 2012. The Census in Chile
have taken place with the recommended periodicity (every 10 years) since 1835 [47].
Censuses seek to characterize the total population and housing and are often used for public
policy development. The 1992 and 2002 Censuses in Chile were largely representative of the
total population, but the latest Census of 2012 had some methodological problems and showed
a higher proportion of missing data than the previous ones (9.6% missing values in 2012 versus
3.8% in 2002 and 1.9% in 1992) (see Table 1). This problem has reduced the value of the 2012
Census for research and the development of public policies [48], but the Census still represents
the most comprehensive national source of data for the country for that year. We performed
our spatial analysis with this limitation in mind, accepting the higher chance of bias of 2012
Census compared to 1992 and 2002. Findings from this study for 2012 must be interpreted,
therefore, as exploratory rather than definitive.
Selection of spatial scale. We collected the data for each variable from the Censuses at the
county level for the entire national territory using software Redatam version 5.0 as provided by
the Chilean Institute of National Statistics.
Data was available for counties, census tracts and census blocks. Although many deprivation
indices have adopted smaller spatial areas than county [49,50], we chose the this scale because
we wanted initially to focus upon the identification of broad patterns of deprivation to support
the development of public policies at the national and regional level. Our index could subse-
quently be produced at a smaller scalelike IMD in England which is calculated for neighbor-
hoods and larger local government areas.
Table 1. Sample of the Chilean Censuses 1992, 2002, 2012. Source: Andrea Vasquez, Fondecyt 11130042.
Census per year 1992 2002 2012
Considered counties 332 339 343
Counted people (Chile) 13.348.401 15.116.436 16.341.929
International immigrants (Chile) 114.498 197.929 324.074
Missed data % (Chile) 1,9 3,8 9,6
Missed data % (Latin America average) 5,3 4,1 -
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047.t001
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Definition of immigrant status. We defined immigrants as all people who self-reported
in the Census that they were born in another country. In the Census questionnaire in each of
the three censuses immigrants are described through two main questions. The first one is
focused on permanent immigrants and asks in which country they were born. The Census is
anonymous and unlike immigration data from the Government´s Immigration and Foreigners
Service, which records only legal immigration, should include undocumented immigrants.
There is less than 2% missing data for this question regarding country of birth in each of the
three censuses.
The second question related to migration concerns where residents lived five years ago. This
question could provide information regarding the movements of immigrants, and also the
movements of the wider Chilean population. However, this question has some of the highest
levels of missing data in the Census questionnaire resulting from non-response (about 40%
missing data). For this reason we chose to use only the question focused on permanent immi-
grants living in Chile.
Measuring socioeconomic deprivation: the IMD
Measuring IMD for immigrants. In this study we estimated the IMD based on three key
dimensions of deprivation that can be measured with data from the Chilean Census: low level
of education, disability and unemployment [4952]. Other important aspects of deprivation,
such as quality of life, crime, and access to services or income, which are part of the English
Index of Multiple Deprivation are not regularly included in the Census questionnaire in Chile.
In addition, other potential sources of data for these dimensions of deprivation were not avail-
able in Chile for all the years of the study. Table 2 shows the key Census questions on which we
based our indices.
Each variable in the IMD, employment, health and education, was given an equal weight, as
shown in the Eq 1.
ImmigrantsIMD ¼½ðUnemployedimmigrants 0;
3ÞþðDisabledimmigrants 0;
3ÞþðLowLevelEducationimmigrants 0;
3Þ Eq 1
The dimensions of deprivation included in the original IMD from England [41] have unique
weights. For this rst estimation of IMD in Chile, we felt however that a more cautious
approach to weighting was appropriate. We therefore followed the weighting methodology of
the UK Census based Townsend [38] and Carstairs [39] indices and used equal weights for all
deprivation indicators. We completed sensitivity testing to explore to what extent the Chilean
IMD scores would vary across counties if different weights were used for each dimension of
deprivation. This testing found broadly similar counties emerged with the highest scores for
deprivation when different weighting strategies were used. This reects the high degree of
Table 2. Variables for estimating the IMD and its correspondence with the Chilean Census questionnaire. Source: Andrea Vasquez, Fondecyt
11130042.
Variable Censuss question Recodication strategy for analysis
Low level of
education
Last course attended in formal education (Categories: not
assistance to school until elementary education, 8
th
grade)
Sum of total population for each county included in the following
categories: from people who did not study until people who ended
their formal education when they ended the elementary education
(k-8
th
).
Employment Employment situation (Categories: wage earners, independent,
housework without income, unemployed (person who worked
before but now is looking for a job)).
Total quantity of unemployment per county.
Disability Condition of disability considering all population. Categories:
dumbness, deafness, blindness, motor disability, mental disability
Sum of total quantity of all categories included in condition of
disability per county.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047.t002
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correlation between the three deprivation measures (these relationships area described further
in the results). Future research could assess weighting further to determine the most appropri-
ate approach to deprivation weighting for areas in Chile.
Each variable was normalized based on a linear distribution of the variable (Zscore) (see Eq
2).
NormalizedValueðNVÞ¼ ðXiXminÞ 1
Xmax Xmin

Eq 2
Then, we added all three factors, which generated a normalized IMD variable with possible
values between 0 and 1. To simplify interpretation, we multiplied this value by 100, in order to
convert it to percentages. The IMD estimate then ran from 0 to 100.
Spatial units over time. In order to make the Census data comparable over time we
required a consistent geography in each time period. However there were small changes in the
county geography between Censuses. The IMD was therefore calculated for 332 counties for
1992, 339 in 2002 and 343 in 2012. The change in numbers occurred because some counties
were subdivided over time following population growth. Between 1992 and 2002 seven coun-
ties were subdivided (2% over the total counties) and between 2002 and 2012 three were subdi-
vided (0.8% of the total counties). Therefore changes to county boundaries affected less than
3% of the total territory under study.
It is also relevant to note that the total counties considered in this study include the conti-
nental territory only while Antarctica and insular counties were excluded from this study. This
was because cartographic data provided by the Chilean Statistics Institute is only available for
the continental territory. Hence, we estimated the IMD for the two study populations for the
entire continental territory and for each county in the three time points: 1992, 2002, and 2012.
Data analysis
We first mapped the total international immigrant population in Chile at the county level for
the three periods under study (1992, 2002, and 2012) using the ArcGis 10.0 software. Then we
mapped the IMD indices for both immigrants and the total population. The IMD component
variables were then assessed in separate maps. We ranked counties by immigrant IMD score
and identified areas with the greatest concentration of socioeconomically deprived immigrants.
Correlation testing was then carried out, as described in Table 3, aimed at testing associations
between IMD for immigrants and the total population, between socioeconomically deprived
immigrants and total immigrants, between specific dimensions of the IMD and between years
of Census data. Correlations were tested at a 95% confidence level using the Pearson correla-
tion test.
Table 3. Variables included for correlation. Source: Andrea Vasquez, Fondecyt 11130042.
Variables tested for correlation
Immigrant IMD and immigrant population
IMD of total population and immigrant population
IMD of total population and immigrant IMD
Immigrant IMD and unemployment in total population
Immigrant IMD and low level of education in total population
Immigrants IMD and disability in total population
Immigrant disability and unemployed immigrants
Disabled immigrants and low level of education in immigrants
Unemployed immigrants and low level of education in immigrants
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047.t003
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Results
During the last three decades the international immigrant population has grown in Chile, from
0.9% of the total population in 1992, to 1.3% in 2002 and reaching 2.0% of the total population
in 2012.
The IMD for international immigrants in Chile showed a range between 0.01 and 86.89 across
different counties (mean 3.4, s.d. 10.1 for the three years in study). The same Figure for the total
population was between 0.02 and 90.0 (mean 11.5, s.d. 15.3). When comparing overall IMD aver-
ages per year for each population, the mean IMD in 1992 for immigrants was 3.9 versus a mean
of 11.5 in the total population in the same time period. This difference was maintained in 2002
with 3.6 for immigrants versus 10.1 for total population, but the IMD decreased in 2012 to 2.7
for immigrants and 8.7 for the total population. So, notably, across the three decades of study the
total population has a higher average socioeconomic deprivation than immigrants.
The spatial distribution of total immigrants
In 1992 international immigrants were concentrated in parts of the central area of Chile, in
particular the Metropolitan Region of Santiago. This pattern had changed in 2002. By this year
international immigrants not only appeared to have expanded into new counties within the
central area of Chile, but there were also significant populations in the north of Chile, particu-
larly in counties with high production of copper and commercial services (Fig 2). In 2012
Fig 2. The spatial distribution of the total international immigrant population in Chile by counties in 1992, 2002 and 2012 (in that order from left to
right in the Figure). The Metropolitan region equals to Santiago city. Source: Andrea Vasquez, Fondecyt 11130042, based on cartography provided by the
National Institute of Statistics.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047.g002
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international immigrants continued their territorial expansion, and were found to be more dis-
persed than in the previous two decades. Despite this modest degree of dispersion compared to
previous Censuses, they still remained most concentrated in the north and central areas of
Chile as a whole.
The distribution of the Index of Multiple Deprivation for immigrants and
total population
The IMD scores for the country in 1992, 2002 and 2012 were mapped for each county and
appear in Fig 3. Despite the territorial dispersal of international immigrants as a whole
observed in the last three decades, we found socioeconomically deprived immigrants remained
concentrated during the time period in north and central areas, especially within the Metropol-
itan Region of Santiago. Among the total population there were also high concentrations of
deprived populations in north and central areas. The spatial distribution of the IMD for the
total population was however more dispersed than that of the IMD for international immi-
grants. Within the Metropolitan Region of Santiago the location of socioeconomically deprived
people among the total population and immigrants has changed significantly over time as they
have become more concentrated in central and eastern areas of the Metropolitan Region after
1992.
We also explored the spatial distribution of the dimensions of the IMD among the interna-
tional immigrant population. Overall, we found a fairly similar pattern for each dimension of
the total IMD score for both immigrants and the total population. The three tended to be con-
centrated in the same areas of the north and central regions of the country. Nonetheless, it
should be noted that each dimension of the IMD showed a greater spatial dispersion on its
own, so the combination of the three together indicated a unique group of highly socioeconom-
ically deprived counties in the country. These counties would have not been identified if the
three dimensions were assessed separately (see Fig 4).
Ranking the counties with the highest scores of immigrant IMD
We ranked the top 10 counties with the highest socioeconomic deprivation among immigrants
in each decade. Table 4 displays this ranking, which highlights the consistency over time of
three counties with high levels of socioeconomic deprivation: Las Condes, Arica and Santiago.
The Table also demonstrates how the distribution of immigrants has evolved in the past three
decades. For example, we observed a growing concentration of both total and socioeconomi-
cally deprived immigrants in some specific counties of the Metropolitan Region over time,
such as Maipú, Independencia, and Recoleta, and other specific counties in the north area of
Chile, such as: Calama and Antofagasta. We can also observe the decline in socioeconomic
deprivation in counties such as Viña del Mar and Providencia over time. These areas are now
known as relatively wealthy counties. Socioeconomically deprived immigrants, therefore,
seemed to have moved away from these wealthy counties over time, but have remained fairly
stable in less affluent counties like Arica during the same period of time.
Correlations between the IMD and immigrant variables
Table 5 displays the correlations between the IMD and immigrant variables. We found a signif-
icant correlation between all variables. The highest correlation was between immigrants IMD
and the total immigrant population which was 0.96 in all decades. The lowest correlation was
found between IMD for total population and immigrant population; 0.480.55 over the three
decades. This indicated that the immigrant population were often, but not always, concentrated
in areas with high levels of deprivation among the total population. The correlation between
Spatial Analysis of Immigrant's Socioeconomic Deprivation in Chile 1992-2012
PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047 January 12, 2016 10 / 19
Fig 3. The spatial distribution of the IMD for the total population (above) and the immigrant population (below) by counties in 1992, 2002 and 2012
(in that order from left to right in the Figure). The Metropolitan region equals to Santiago city. Source: Andrea Vasquez, Fondecyt 11130042, based on
cartography provided by the National Institute of Statistics.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047.g003
Spatial Analysis of Immigrant's Socioeconomic Deprivation in Chile 1992-2012
PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047 January 12, 2016 11 / 19
Spatial Analysis of Immigrant's Socioeconomic Deprivation in Chile 1992-2012
PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047 January 12, 2016 12 / 19
IMD for immigrants and IMD for total population was between 0.54 and 0.66, with the lowest
correlation in 2012. Immigrant IMD was also fairly highly correlated with each of the compo-
nents of the total population IMD. This suggests both significant overlap and some differences
in the location of socioeconomically deprived people in the immigrant and total population.
Finally, there were very high levels of correlation between all three dimensions of immigrant
socioeconomic deprivation in all three decades.
Discussion
Summary of main findings
In this study we found that the number of immigrants and their spatial distribution across the
continental territory of the country has evolved in the past three decades. In 1992 immigrants
were predominantly located in central regions of the country, especially in the Metropolitan
Region of Santiago. However, during 2002 and 2012 as the numbers of immigrants increased
Chile experienced two developments: (i) a higher concentration of immigrants in some specific
counties in the center of the country like Santiago, possibly due to more job opportunities; and
(ii) a higher concentration of immigrants in the northern area of Chile, especially in the Tara-
pacá and Antofagasta regions, possibly due to geographical proximity to sources of immigrants
from bordering countries like Peru and Bolivia.
Our IMD indicated that immigrants and socioeconomically deprived immigrants tended to be
more concentrated in counties in the northern and central area of Chile, especially within the Met-
ropolitan Area of Santiago, the main Region of Chile. These were often the same counties where
people in the total population with socioeconomic deprivation were most concentrated during the
same time periods. We observed a growing concentration of both total and socioeconomically
deprived immigrants in some specific counties of the Metropolitan Region over time, such as
Maipú, Independencia, and Recoleta, and other specific counties in the north area of Chile.
Contrasting findings with theory and previous research
According to our findings, there is an association between higher concentration of socioeco-
nomic deprivation for the total population and international immigrants within counties in
Fig 4. The spatial distribution of the IMD dimensions separately for the immigrant population, by
counties in 1992, 2002 and 2012 (in that order from left to right in the Figure). Source: Andrea Vasquez,
Fondecyt 11130042, based on cartography provided by the National Institute of Statistics.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047.g004
Table 4. Ranking the counties with the highest scores of immigrant IMD during the three last decades. Source: Andrea Vasquez, Fondecyt
11130042.
Ranking County 1992 IMD 1992 County 2002 IMD 2002 County 2012 IMD 2012
1Las Condes 86,2 Las Condes 73,1 Santiago 86,9
2Arica 75,3 Santiago 66,2 Arica 61,7
3Providencia 68,0 Arica 61,1 Las Condes 44,9
4Santiago 66,2 Providencia 51,4 Iquique 37,3
5Ñuñoa 57,4 Ñuñoa 36,5 Recoleta 26,3
6Viña del Mar 50,0 Iquique 34,6 Antofagasta 24,5
7Vitacura 34,2 Viña del Mar 33,0 Calama 23,0
8La Reina 29,2 La Florida 32,7 Providencia 21,3
9La Florida 29,2 Maipú 31,3 Viña del Mar 19,6
10 Valparaíso 28,8 Puente Alto 29,9 Puente Alto 19,4
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047.t004
Spatial Analysis of Immigrant's Socioeconomic Deprivation in Chile 1992-2012
PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047 January 12, 2016 13 / 19
many areas of the country. Based on the social chain theory of migration, we could argue that
these counties have some social characteristics that draw immigrants as well as job or educa-
tional opportunities. They might be social networks that immigrants have developed through
the migration process with relatives or friends, which are particularly important when making
the decision on whether to migrate to Chile. In addition, irrespective of the social networks
immigrants in the country, once they have arrived they may tend to move to specific counties
that have become denser with immigrant population over time.
We found that counties with high socioeconomic deprivation for the total population often
had high socioeconomic deprivation for immigrants (i.e. high and significant correlation esti-
mates between immigrants IMD and each dimension of IMD for the total population). This
implies that the concentration of socioeconomic deprivation is spatially distributed in Chile,
not only for international immigrants but also for the total socioeconomically deprived popula-
tion in the country. This needs further consideration and research to develop more robust,
effective public policy strategies targeting these groups with significant socioeconomic
deprivation.
As shown in other studies of deprivation [4952], deprivation indices are often used to
study the more deprived areas within a large city. In this study we wanted to describe immi-
grants IMD across the entire continental territory of the country. This description in Chile
should inform public policy practitioners and health practitioners that the socioeconomic dep-
rivation among immigrants affects many counties, but the more socioeconomically deprived
immigrants are concentrated in some specific areas. Studies in the past have explored the living
conditions and health needs of groups of international immigrants in specific counties in the
counties like Santiago and Arica [4446]. This study provides unique and novel findings on the
spatial distribution of socioeconomic deprivation of international migrants and the total popu-
lation across the country as a whole. It identifies the existence of some specific counties with
high concentrations of socioeconomic deprivation among immigrants and the total population
in Chile. This highlights the need for both local and national strategies to prevent and reduce
socioeconomic deprivation among both immigrants and the total population.
Studys strengths
This is the first study exploring the IMD for each county in the continental territory of Chile.
Census data used in this study is the most representative source describing the total population.
While the 2012 dataset has a greater level of bias than 1992 and 2002 (with 9.6% missed data at
the national level) it still compares well with some previous censuses in Chile (the greatest
missing data was in 1952 and 1970 Census of Housing and Population) and with the error esti-
mates from Censuses conducted in other Latin American countries during the 1990s [48].
Table 5. Correlation estimates of IMDs between populations and between dimensions. Source: Andrea Vasquez, Fondecyt 11130042.
Correlation tests 1992 P-value (n = 331) 2002 P-value (n = 339) 2012 P-value (n = 343)
Immigrant IMD / Immigrant population 0.96 <0.00001 0.96 <0.00001 0.96 <0.00001
Total population IMD / Immigrant population 0.52 <0.00001 0.55 <0.00001 0.48 <0.00001
Total population IMD/ Immigrant IMD 0.62 <0.00001 0.66 <0.00001 0.54 <0.00001
Immigrant IMD / Total population unemployment 0.63 <0.00001 0.68 <0.00001 0.57 <0.00001
Immigrant IMD / Total population education 0.57 <0.00001 0.59 <0.00001 0.49 <0.00001
Immigrant IMD/ Total population disability 0.63 <0.00001 0.67 <0.00001 0.53 <0.00001
Immigrant disability / Immigrant unemployment 0.93 <0.00001 0.87 <0.00001 0.86 <0.00001
Immigrant disability / Immigrant education 0.9 <0.00001 0.86 <0.00001 0.95 <0.00001
Immigrant unemployment / Immigrant education 0.96 <0.00001 0.88 <0.00001 0.88 <0.00001
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047.t005
Spatial Analysis of Immigrant's Socioeconomic Deprivation in Chile 1992-2012
PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047 January 12, 2016 14 / 19
We created a deprivation index drawing on the conceptualization of the English IMD and
despite its limitations, this scale is a novel contribution to research in Chile and Latin America.
It adds new knowledge for improving policy and practice, especially by supporting a spatial
dimension to the monitoring of socioeconomic deprivation in the country in the future.
In this study, we conceptualized and measured socioeconomic deprivation as a complex,
multidimensional social construct, and we measured it not only in a single point in time but
across three decades. This has allowed us to assess general changes in patterns of socioeco-
nomic deprivation over a 30-year period of time in the country.
Studys weaknesses
There are some limitations to address in this study. First, the counties for which data was avail-
able varied in each Census because of the administrative changes that created 7 new counties in
the period 19922002 and 3 new counties for 20022012 decade. This results in methodologi-
cal weakness when comparing socioeconomic deprivation between counties over time. This
issue makes comparison over time difficult for some specific counties that were measured one
year and not the other. This however effected only 10 counties overall, which are a fairly small
proportion of the total dataset (3%). The case of Alto Hospiciocounty is the most important
for the current study, because of its location in the north area with one of the highest immi-
grant populations in Chile, as seen in results.
Another weakness stems from the limitations of migration data in the Chilean Census. We
focused on data regarding country of birth only because this census question had low levels of
missing data. A further immigration question in the Census asked where residents lived five
years ago and could have been used to assess recent immigrants who may be particularly perti-
nent to understanding the changing nature of the immigrant population immigrants in Chile.
However, we did not assess this data because of high rates of non-response.
While the English IMD describes seven dimensions of deprivation we considered just three
dimensions. This was due to lack of availability of other measures from relevant population-
based sources at the time this study was conducted, particularly for the year of interest (1992,
2002 and 2012). Finally, as the value of Census 2012 is limited by missing data, we still require
the confirmation of results from a new more fully representative Census in Chile.
Implications for policy
The IMDs we have developed for immigrants and total population highlight the location of
socioeconomically deprived populations in the country. The spatial analysis of socioeconomic
deprivation provides an opportunity for focusing social public policy upon more deprived
counties within Chile. The availability of knowledge regarding socioeconomic deprivation at
county level can support further local disaggregation, which would allow more detailed territo-
rial management and public policy application in Chile. In this way, it could be possible to use
this county level information as a base layer for local management to focus effort and resources
to support socioeconomically deprived local populations. This IMD could provide crucial
information to tackle health and social issues, allowing the prioritization of counties that are
more socioeconomically deprived than others.
Future research
A future version of this index in Chile could consider further dimensions of multiple depriva-
tion and could also be applied at a more detailed spatial scale. We have considered variables
corresponding to demographic and socioeconomic deprivation, but new dimensions could be
added. These could potentially include distance and access to services, focused in particular on
Spatial Analysis of Immigrant's Socioeconomic Deprivation in Chile 1992-2012
PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047 January 12, 2016 15 / 19
access to healthcare facilities and crime. The index could also incorporate data linked to the
poverty line.
In addition, future research could measure socioeconomic deprivation not only at the
county level, but study in depth what is happening at a more detailed level, like the neighbor-
hood, used in the original IMD of England. This IMD at a more detailed spatial scale, could be
based upon the census block used in the Chilean Census. Although, data describing some
aspects of socioeconomic deprivation (e.g. crime) are not available at this scale.
We also need to complete further work assessing the best approaches to weighting different
aspects of socioeconomic deprivation in an IMD. This analysis should determine which vari-
ables are more important in defining socioeconomic deprivation and how to develop a differ-
ent weight for each variable.
Future work could support the development of the multiple deprivation index at different
scales with data that can be updated periodically from public information and reports, allowing
the utilization of this index by national and local government. Socioeconomic deprivation is a
complex and dynamic concept and so this index will need to be updated to support future policy.
Conclusions
Our main research questions concerned, firstly, where socioeconomically deprived immigrants
have concentrated spatially over the last three decades, and secondly if their location was corre-
lated with the location of socioeconomically deprived people among the total population.
Through this analysis we aimed at providing unique knowledge in the field of international
migration in the Southern cone of Latin America. We created a variation of the English IMD,
using the indicators of unemployment, low educational level and disability that were available
from Census data in three decades, 1992, 2002 and 2012.
We found that socioeconomically deprived immigrants tended to be more concentrated in
counties in the northern and central area of Chile. These were often the same counties where
there was concentrated socioeconomic deprivation for the total population during the same
time periods. This is the first study analysing the spatial distribution of socioeconomic depriva-
tion of international immigrants and the total population in a Latin American country. Find-
ings could inform policy makers on the location of areas with populations at higher need of
social protection in Chile and support national and local polices to address these needs among
both among immigrants and the total resident population in the country. These spatially tar-
geted policies may be especially important for immigrants, due to their population growth in
the last three decades and their strong spatial concentration in some regions of Chile.
Supporting Information
S1 File. This is the S1 Letter for Censuses 1992 and 2002 Spanish. This is the original letter
provided by the National Institute of Statistics in Chile about how to get the information from
Census 1992 and 2002.
(PDF)
S2 File. This is the S2 Letter for Censuses 1992 and 2002 English. This is the translated letter
into English provided by the National Institute of Statistics in Chile about how to get the infor-
mation from Census 1992 and 2002.
(PDF)
S3 File. This is the S3 Letter for Census 2012 Spanish. This is the original letter provided by
the National Institute of Statistics in Chile about how to get the information from Census 2012.
(PDF)
Spatial Analysis of Immigrant's Socioeconomic Deprivation in Chile 1992-2012
PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0146047 January 12, 2016 16 / 19
S4 File. This is the S4 Letter for Census 2012 English. This is the translated letter into English
provided by the National Institute of Statistics in Chile about how to get the information from
Census 2012.
(PDF)
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge the National Statistics Institute of Chile for proving the Census datasets and
all the participants involved in Census in Chile in the past three decades.
Author Contributions
Conceived and designed the experiments: AV BC HT. Performed the experiments: AV BC HT.
Analyzed the data: AV BC HT. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: AV BC HT.
Wrote the paper: AV BC HT.
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Supplementary resources (4)

... The use of composite indicators [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] , such as the IBP, may support the production of estimates related to risk factors for noncommunicable chronic diseases (NCDs) in smaller areas and, thus, support policies to promote eq-uity 1 . The present study aimed to produce estimates of prevalence of adult smokers, according to the IBP, in the 26 capitals and in the Federal District. ...
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... O índice foi construído para medir as desigualdades no país utilizando um único ponto de corte para todo o Brasil. Esse índice é apresentado por quartil, quintil e vigintil de privação11 .O uso de indicadores compostos[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] , como o IBP, poderá apoiar a produção de estimativas relacionadas aos fatores de risco para as doenças crônicas não transmissíveis (DCNT) em áreas menores e, assim, sustentar políticas depromoção da equidade 1 . O presente estudo visa produzir estimativas de prevalências de adultos fumantes, segundo o IBP, nas 26 capitais e no Distrito Federal. ...
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Background Life expectancy (LE) has usually been used as a metric to monitor population health. In the last few years, metrics such as Quality-Adjusted-Life-Expectancy (QALE) and Health-Adjusted-Life- Expectancy (HALE) have gained popularity in health research, given their capacity to capture health related quality of life, providing a more comprehensive approach to the health concept. We aimed to estimate the distribution of the LE, QALEs and HALEs across Socioeconomic Status in the Chilean population. Methods Based on life tables constructed using Chiang II´s method, we estimated the LE of the population in Chile by age strata. Probabilities of dying were estimated from mortality data obtained from national registries. Then, life tables were stratified into five socioeconomic quintiles, based on age-adjusted years of education (pre-school, early years to year 1, primary level, secondary level, technical or university). Quality weights (utilities) were estimated for age strata and SES, using the National Health Survey (ENS 2017). Utilities were calculated using the EQ-5D data of the ENS 2017 and the validated value set for Chile. We applied Sullivan´s method to adjust years lived and convert them into QALEs and HALEs. Results LE at birth for Chile was estimated in 80.4 years, which is consistent with demographic national data. QALE and HALE at birth were 69.8 and 62.4 respectively. Men are expected to live 6.1% less than women. However, this trend is reversed when looking at QALEs and HALEs, indicating the concentration of higher morbidity in women compared to men. The distribution of all these metrics across SES showed a clear gradient in favour of a better-off population-based on education quintiles. The absolute and relative gaps between the lowest and highest quintile were 15.24 years and 1.21 for LE; 18.57 HALYs and 1.38 for HALEs; and 21.92 QALYs and 1.41 for QALEs. More pronounced gradients and higher gaps were observed at younger age intervals. Conclusion The distribution of LE, QALE and HALEs in Chile shows a clear gradient favouring better-off populations that decreases over people´s lives. Differences in LE favouring women contrast with differences in HALEs and QALEs which favour men, suggesting the need of implementing gender-focused policies to address the case-mix complexity. The magnitude of inequalities is greater than in other high-income countries and can be explained by structural social inequalities and inequalities in access to healthcare.
... Chile's popularity as a new place of settlement is due to its relative political stability with historically strong institutions and constitutional governance, its reputation as a safe place in South America and its 'economic jaguar' status (Sznajder 1996;Vasquez et al. 2016). In 2010 Chile became an Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member and was fully integrated into the international global market, with the World Bank ranking it as an 'upper middle income' country. ...
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