The work reported here assesses the coverage achieved by two sales-based approaches to distributing a complementary food supplement (KOKO Plus™) to infants and young children in Ghana. Delivery Model 1 was conducted in the Northern Region of Ghana and used a mixture of health extension workers (delivering behavior change communications and demand creation activities at primary healthcare centers and in the community) and petty traders recruited from among beneficiaries of a local microfinance initiative (responsible for the sale of the complementary food supplement at market stalls and house to house). Delivery Model 2 was conducted in the Eastern Region of Ghana and used a market-based approach, with the product being sold through micro-retail routes (i.e., small shops and roadside stalls) in three districts supported by behavior change communications and demand creation activities led by a local social marketing company. Both delivery models were implemented sub-nationally as 1-year pilot programs, with the aim of informing the design of a scaled-up program. A series of cross-sectional coverage surveys was implemented in each program area. Results from these surveys show that Delivery Model 1 was successful in achieving and sustaining high (i.e., 86%) effective coverage (i.e., the child had been given the product at least once in the previous 7 days) during implementation. Effective coverage fell to 62% within 3 months of the behavior change communications and demand creation activities stopping. Delivery Model 2 was successful in raising awareness of the product (i.e., 90% message coverage), but effective coverage was low (i.e., 9.4%). Future programming efforts should use the health extension / microfinance / petty trader approach in rural settings and consider adapting this approach for use in urban and periurban settings. Ongoing behavior change communications and demand creation activities is likely to be essential to the continued success of such programming.

California has a lot to lose if the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is repealed. The state made significant investments in implementing the law successfully, and under the ACA cut the number of uninsured residents in half, from 6.5 million in 2013 to 3.3 million in 2015-the largest decline in the uninsured rate of any state. The two major reasons for this drop in uninsurance were the expansion of Medicaid and the provision of financial assistance for purchasing coverage through the state health insurance marketplace, Covered California. As a result of these policies, California experienced a significant reduction in health coverage disparities: the biggest drops in the uninsurance rate were among those least likely to have coverage before the ACA, namely those with the lowest income, young adults, part-time workers, and Latinos. Repealing the ACA threatens not only to leave millions without health insurance, but also to undo the progress California has made in reducing inequality of health insurance access. This brief focuses on Californians enrolled in expanded Medi-Cal (the states Medicaid program) and those who receive subsidized coverage through Covered California, the two groups most immediately affected if the ACA is repealed. However, many more Californians could see diminished health coverage under various Congressional Republicans proposals to repeal and replace the ACA.

The purpose of this study is to explain urban wage differentials with a special focus on educational levels. The authors explore whether the share of people with a bachelors degree or higher in the community matters to the wages of those within specific educational cohorts, accounting for cost of living, human capital externalities, consumer externalities, policy factors, and local labor market conditions. Using data for all U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas between 2005 and 2012, the authors find that the presence of more highly educated people will result in a higher median wage in the community overall, as do many studies, but that this factor does not significantly increase the wage for any individual education cohort. These results are hidden if we only look at the entire workforce in the aggregate.

This report examines the overlap in eligibility among children and nonelderly adults for the nations largest nutrition assistance program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and the nations primary medical assistance programs for low-income families, Medicaid and the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP). We show how many children and adults are eligible, nationally and at the state level, for Medicaid/CHIP, SNAP, or both. We find that nearly 60 percent of children and a quarter of nonelderly adults were eligible for at least one of these programs in 2013. This estimate includes children currently covered by private insurance who would not immediately qualify for CHIP because of waiting periods or other provisions designed to target coverage to the uninsured. The overlap in eligibility varies by state and subgroup (children, parents, and nonparent adults), reflecting differences in eligibility rules and poverty rates. Overlap between SNAP and Medicaid among parents is expected to be higher after 2013 because of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Although overlap between SNAP and Medicaid among nonparents is also likely to increase, this will be offset somewhat by the reinstatement of SNAP time limits for adults in households without children who do not meet work requirements.

Research on family structure and child well-being rarely includes children in same-sex parent families, a notable omission since 28 % of female–female couple households contain children. Using the 2010–2013 pooled current population survey (CPS), we examined children’s economic well-being by family structure. These data were ideal for this study because they included a sizeable number of children in same-sex cohabiting mother families and the CPS measured both official and supplemental poverty, incorporating the cohabiting partner. Using the official poverty measure, children in same-sex cohabiting mother families were more likely to be poor than their counterparts in either different-sex cohabiting or married parent families. Using the supplemental poverty measure, children in same-sex mother families were no more likely to be poor than children in all other types of different-sex two-parent families.

This report examines trends in citizenship status between 1990 and 2013, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau.1 It explores trends in citizenship status by race/ethnicity, sex, age, and among the five largest Latino national subgroups. In addition, this report also examines the effect of citizenship status on the following outcomes: education, income, employment status, usual hours worked, and poverty status. In this report, citizenship status is defined using three categories: citizen by birth, naturalized citizen, and not a citizen. A citizen by birth is someone who was either born in the U.S. or born to at least one parent who is an American citizen. In addition, educational attainment was computed for those age 25 and older, while the remaining outcomes of income, employment status, usual hours worked, and poverty status were computed for those between the ages of 16 and 64. 2 All findings are reported in 2015 inflation-adjusted dollars. The data indicated three key trends. First, most Latinos in the United States were citizens by birth in each year between 1990 and 2013. In 2013, 76% of Latinos were U.S. citizens either by birth (65%) or naturalization (11%). Excluding Puerto Ricans who are all citizens by birth, Mexicans, Cubans, and Dominicans had the highest rates of citizenship by birth or naturalization, at 76%, 77%, and 73% respectively in 2013. Second, naturalized Latino citizens had better educational and economic outcomes than non-citizens and citizens by birth. Levels of educational attainment among naturalized Latino citizens, especially in higher education, far surpassed educational attainment among Latino non-citizens in each year. Despite similar employment rates, personal incomes were higher among naturalized Latino citizens ($24,000 in 2013), compared to the incomes of both Latinos that were citizens by birth ($12,700) and non-citizens ($13,500 in 2013). Between 1990 and 2013, poverty rates were lower among naturalized Latino citizens (13% in 2013), compared to both Latino citizens by birth (20%) and . . .

Almost one-quarter (24.2 percent), or 655,000 California adults ages 65 and older living alone or with only their spouse/partner had a 2013 income above the federal poverty level (FPL) but below the Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index (Elder Index), according to the U.S. Census American Community Survey. This group of "hidden poor" are almost twice as likely to identify as being in poor or fair health, feel depressed, and report that they cannot get timely health care compared to their wealthier counterparts. Using 2013-2014 California Health Interview Survey data, authors found 34 percent of the hidden poor group self-identified as being in "fair" or "poor" health, a rate almost twice as high as those with incomes above the Elder Index (17.5 percent). Hidden poor seniors had a higher rate of feeling depressed "some, most or all of the time" (10.6 percent) compared to 3.4 percent of the wealthier group. Almost twice as many had difficulty obtaining timely medical care (22.2 percent) compared with the wealthier group (11.9 percent). Older adults among the hidden poor also face barriers to care.

Recent decades saw renewed interest in alternatives to automobiles from both citizens and policymakers alike, with new investments in light-rail and other transit following as a result. While a growing literature outlines housing appreciation that investments may exogenously induce, no study has yet identified if projects impact the demographic composition of households in nearby neighborhoods. This research takes Seattle’s LightLinkRail as a case study with which to describe the trajectories of newly transit-rich neighborhoods and test if the light-rail system’s construction altered demographic trends. Using difference-in-difference analysis, models of pre- and post-treatment rates of change suggest a negative treatment effect for the population of black residents after the transit line opened. However, the only notable factor for trends in the proportion of white residents was time (i.e. all sample cases saw upticks in their trend relative to their pre-treatment levels).

Метод классификации занятий является относительно новым явлением в отечественной исторической науке, несмотря на то что он активно применяется и развивается в зарубежной историографии в демографических исследованиях и в рамках направления Social Science History. Целью данной статьи является обзор применяющихся в исторических исследованиях классификаций занятий и проблем их использования. В работе рассматривается международный исторический стандарт кодирования занятий (HISCO), его применение для исследований социальных структур общества, а также источники и особенности реализации российского проекта HISCO. Отдельное внимание уделяется экономической классификации занятий населения (PSTI) и перспективам ее использования для анализа отечественных исторических данных.

Data from the Census Bureau shows that 42.4 million immigrants (both legal and illegal ) now live in the United States. This Backgrounder provides a detailed picture of immigrants, also referred to as the foreign-born, living in the United States by country of birth and state. It also examines the progress immigrants make over time. All figures are for both legal and illegal immigrants who responded to Census Bureau surveys.

In particular, this report focuses on college education. A college education is often considered a critical job prerequisite, necessary to secure higher earnings. On average, college graduates earn 80% more than high school graduates (The Economist, April 23, 2016). Higher education is also critical to innovation. Lastly, there is an entrepreneurial sweet spot at the bachelors degree level (Fairlie 2013). Places with a large share of their population holding a college degree, not more or less, have the highest rates of business ownership (Conroy and Weiler, 2016). Thus we focus on college education as the crux of an economy with competitive wages, innovative activities, and high rates of entrepreneurship

The relationships between womens empowerment and tobacco use have not been thoroughly explored, particularly in developing settings. Using data from IPUMS-DHS, we categorized capability-related indicators in binary form. Using tabular analysis and weighted log-binomial regressions, we found that illiterate women exhibit a higher risk of tobacco use in association with some empowerment indicators. We conclude that some aspects of womens empowerment may have unexpected relationships with tobacco-use behaviors.

Objectives. To assess potential reductions in premature mortality that could have been achieved in 2008 to 2012 if the minimum wage had been $15 per hour in New York City. Methods. Using the 2008 to 2012 American Community Survey, we performed simulations to assess how the proportion of low-income residents in each neighborhood might change with a hypothetical $15 minimum wage under alternative assumptions of labor market dynamics. We developed an ecological model of premature death to determine the differences between the levels of premature mortality as predicted by the actual proportions of low-income residents in 2008 to 2012 and the levels predicted by the proportions of low-income residents under a hypothetical $15 minimum wage. Results. A $15 minimum wage could have averted 2800 to 5500 premature deaths between 2008 and 2012 in New York City, representing 4% to 8% of total premature deaths in that period. Most of these avertable deaths would be realized in lower-income communities, in which residents are predominantly people of color. Conclusions. A higher minimum wage may have substantial positive effects on health and should be considered as an instrument to address health disparities. Read More: http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303188

As a state without a personal income tax that has experienced strong employment and population growth in the past, Texas was held up as the economic policy model for Kansas and Oklahoma to follow in recently cutting their personal income tax rates. Using microlevel data, this paper examines whether Texas has benefitted from its mix of public policies by examining the geographic patterns of estimated quality-adjusted wages and housing costs across the USA. The overall finding is the absence of significantly positive capitalized effects from the policies of Texas. The only significant capitalized policy effect found was lower quality of life in Texas nonmetropolitan areas relative to those in Oklahoma.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the historical membership patterns of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) on a regional and council scale. Using Annual Report data, maps were created to show membership patterns within the BSA’s 12 regions, and over 300 councils when available. The examination of maps reveals the membership impacts of internal and external policy changes upon the Boy Scouts of America. The maps also show how American cultural shifts have impacted the BSA. After reviewing this thesis, the reader should have a greater understanding of the creation, growth, dispersion, and eventual decline in membership of the Boy Scouts of America. Due to the popularity of the organization, and its long history, the reader may also glean some information about American culture in the 20th century as viewed through the lens of the BSA’s rise and fall in popularity.

Human mobility continues to increase in terms of volumes and reach, producing growing global connectivity. This connectivity hampers efforts to eliminate infectious diseases such as malaria through reintroductions of pathogens, and thus accounting for it becomes important in designing global, continental, regional, and national strategies. Recent works have shown that census-derived migration data provides a good proxy for internal connectivity, in terms of relative strengths of movement between administrative units, across temporal scales. To support global malaria eradication strategy efforts, here we describe the construction of an open access archive of estimated internal migration flows in endemic countries built through pooling of census microdata. These connectivity datasets, described here along with the approaches and methods used to create and validate them, are available both through the WorldPop website and the WorldPop Dataverse Repository.

This report focuses on three questions: 1) What are the college readiness and completion experiences of young Latino men in urban Massachusetts; 2) What helps or prevents young Latino men from successfully obtaining a post-secondary credential; and 3) What influences young Latino mens decision-making processes about education and work? These questions derived from a reading of existing literature, much of which tends to draw on quantitative findings. To answer these questions, researchers for this study took a largely qualitative approach to understand the education trajectory of young Latino men through the conceptual framework of the educational pipeline, a continuum of institutions spanning early education to post-secondary education through which students travel. By asking young Latino men, first-hand, about their experiences moving through the pipeline, this project was able to capture their voices and perspectives, providing insight into their educational, work, and personal lives. Accordingly, researchers fused quantitative data with these qualitative findings (personal narratives from the young men) to arrive at a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the discouraging statistics detailing Latino male educational experiences and college completion in Massachusetts.

As romantic relationships are a nearly universal experience with clear benefits for those involved, it is imperative to try to understand the specific predictors and consequences of romantic dissolution. The present work examines just one predictor of relationship dissatisfaction, Choice Overload, using the Paradox of Choice (POC) framework. Although many disciplines study romantic relationships (e.g., sociology, anthropology, family studies), I will present a focused review consisting primarily of social psychological romantic relationships literature, the POC literature, and then demonstrate the previously unexamined similarities between the two fields. Lastly, I will report on the data from two studies to directly test this effect, and end with implications of the present work.

Since the 1970s, almost all US states have introduced laws allowing for joint child custody. This move towards joint custody has strengthened in recent years, with states increasingly considering laws that would establish a presumption that joint custody is in the best interests of the child. However, there is little evidence to either support or rebut the contention that joint custody leads to better outcomes for children. In this paper, I work to fill this void by assessing the long-run implications for children of growing up exposed to joint custody legislation. I first employ two separate national datasets to show that enactment of joint custody laws increased the prevalence of actual joint custody arrangements. I then use decennial censuses from 1990 to 2010 to examine the effects of these laws on children’s long-term outcomes. I find that exposure to joint custody laws and practices as a youth has a negative effect on educational attainment. In particular, exposure to joint custody decreases the likelihood that a person will obtain a high school degree. My results imply that, at best, joint custody can have no effect on children’s outcomes and, at worst, can harm long-term educational achievement.

More and more states have been adopting online voter registration in recent years. Investigating the impact of the policy on voter turnout can inform policy-making and contribute to our knowledge of political behavior. Using the Current Population Survey (CPS) data between 2000 and 2014, I conduct a difference-in-difference analysis at the state level and then an instrumental variable regression at the individual level. The difference-in-difference analysis shows that online voter registration has no impact on voter turnout for the general population but does increase the turnout for young voters by about 1 percentage point. The effects of online registration on turnout for the younger voters are stronger in states with earlier registration closing dates and without same day registration. The user identification requirements of state online registration systems have heterogeneous impacts for the voters of different age groups. The instrumental variable regression shows that the upper limit of the impact of online registration on voter turnout is about 7 to 12 percentage points. This study contributes to the existing literature on electoral regulations by estimating the causal effect of a new, important election reform.