Low birthweight is a pernicious public health problem that has seen little to no improvement in the United States for over 50 years. Being born low birth weight carries an increased risk of a broad range of adverse health and development outcomes and has been identified as a likely mechanism through which health and socioeconomic inequality is reproduced across generations. Racial disparities in birth weight are particularly stark. However, despite considerable attention to the issue, existing research fails to fully explain the social, institutional, and historical processes that operate to uphold racialized inequality in adverse birth outcomes. In light of recent declines in average birth weight and increases in pre-term births over recent decades, this puzzle is of particular importance to the public health and medical community, as well as to the racially minoritized populations affected by these shifts. The current dissertation approaches the problem from three different angles to better understand how racialized patterns in birth weight inequality are shaped via 1) vast shifts in the timing and level of participation in the institutions of marriage and education over time and the associated implications for racialized age patterns of low birth weight risk; 2) rapid increases in the use of obstetric interventions that have had widespread implications for the distribution of births by gestational age; and 3) the dilution of Black voting power via racialized disenfranchisement. Using standard regression techniques, classic demographic life table methods, and decomposition techniques, this dissertation finds that racialized disparities in educational attainment, exposure to obstetric intervention, and political exclusion all operate to exacerbate and/or maintain longstanding disparities in birth weight risk for racially minoritized populations. Implications of this work for future research and policy call for increased attention to the institutional and historical processes that produce racialized patterns of risk for adverse birth outcomes in Black communities.

Increasing the minimum wage to $15 has been a very controversial debate over the last few years. While it is easy to believe that raising the minimum wage would result in more money for everyone, it is important to determine the economic effects this large increase would have. My research aims to determine how raising the minimum wage effects unemployment- more specifically for teenagers, young adults, and those without a college degree, as well as the effect on consumer price index. Through my research, I found statistically significant evidence that proves that increasing minimum wages result in an increase in consumer price index, in general and for tradable and non-tradable goods. There was also statistically significant evidence that proves that increasing minimum wages result in a decrease in unemployment. I believe that the higher minimum wage attracts those who are not in the work force, helping to increase employment.

As part of ILR Review’s new special series “Novel Technologies at Work,” this article introduces a forum composed of five industry studies that examine the drivers and impact of recent and impending technological change. Each of the studies, condensed from longer reports published over the past two years, relies on interviews with sectoral actors and other primary data to determine the relevant technologies confronting workers and managers and the sorts of strategies and policies that will mediate their effects.

Trans-informed administrative guidance introduces concepts from trans studies to educational leaders, but researchers have relatively ignored these policy implementation tools. This content analysis describes the design of administrative guidance using a representative sample of 112 Illinois districts: the who, what, how, and why of supporting transgender students. The results substantiated evidence of trans-informed guidance that introduced complex gender “definitions” and legitimized students’ identity. Many of these same texts also included barriers to supporting students with administrative gatekeeping, definitions reinforcing the gender binary, and mandates to involve parents in access decisions. All but one district (96%) highlighted existing state and local policies to motivate administrative actions around 13 issues. A minority of the texts provided specific directions to guide decision-making and reform efforts. This paper includes areas of concern and suggestions as policymakers initiate gender reforms.

arn more while working less — that’s the dream for many workers who are sick of clocking in 40 or more hours per week. Working fewer hours can lead to lower job stress and better work-life balance, or a part-time job can allow you to grow your earnings with a weekend gig or side hustle. If you’re interested in part-time work, however, finding the right job can be tricky. While workers might prefer part-time schedules, it can seem like the best jobs and benefits are limited to full-time hours.

The article presents results of the analysis of the conceptions and uses of the social division of labour by the statistical classification schemes and by the social sciences. The general hypothesis pursued is that the social division of labour is used as an explanatory principle and as a basis for legitimation of the social structures. These uses encompass both the current statistical classification schemes and the social sciences involved. In addition to the introduction, a second item discusses the origins and meanings of the social division of labour for the social sciences and its relations with theoretical problems such as the multidimensionality of social structures. Next, the synthesis of the conception and uses of the social division of labour by the main statistical classification schemes in vogue is presented. The high degree of redundancy of statistical classifications is exposed below, particularly with regard to occupations and status in employment. The categories of managers are particularly examined as the main empirical reference. The next item presents the results of the examination of the overlapping of categories linked management with the condition of the employer and the overvaluation of the amount of schooling. Finally, the last item discusses general issues related to the uses of the social division of labour and its limits and relationships with theoretical foundations of the social sciences.

Intense urbanization and increased anthropogenic activity are two important factor contributing to the decline of soil and water quality in Houston watersheds, which poses a great environmental and human health risks. This study, therefore, was designed to: 1) determine nutrient and metal concentrations in soil and water samples along Carpenters Bayou (CaB), Cedar Bayou (CB), Sims Bayou (SB), Spring Creek Bayou (SC) and Vince Bayou (VB), 2) analyze land cover changes in watersheds using Landsat image analysis and 3) evaluate socio-economic characteristics and human health risks for each watershed. Soil and water samples were collected from three different locations with three replicates per location during the summer and winter seasons along each bayou. Samples were analyzed for a series of elemental concentrations using inductive coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) and total carbon and nitrogen (TCN) analyzer. Land cover changes and post-classification change detection for Landsat satellite imageries were performed using ERDAS Imagine v16.5 software. Spatial analysis and interpolation were conducted using ESRI ArcGIS-10.8 software. Analytical results showed that concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, P and N in water samples were in the range of 0.0–0.12, 0.0–2.80, 0.0–4.67, 0.0–2.62, 0.0–1.68, 0.0–44.35, 29.08–1829 and 539–4229 µg L–1, respectively, with concentrations decreasing as follows: CaB>VB>SB>SC>CB. Metal concentrations in soil samples for Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, P and N were in the range of 0.20–1.02, 8.19–41.73, 3.33–35.57, 3.35–17.33, 3.56–31.66, 2.63–120, 48.94–883 and 323–3152 mg kg–1, respectively, with concentrations decreasing in the following order CB>VB>SB>CaB>SC. Land cover change patterns were similar for all the bayou watersheds with high vegetative surfaces decreasing and low vegetative surfaces increasing significantly over the past three decades. All watersheds had increased population growth with population rates as follows SC>SB>CaB>CB>VB. Health risk assessments revealed risks for Cd, Cr, and Ni in soil via ingestion for children under age 6 as follows CB>VB>SB>CaB. This research is critical in improving our understanding on the impact of natural and human activities on Houston watersheds.

Despite the large urban-rural income gap across the developing world, it remains unclear to what degree this reflects the causal effect of urban residency. This paper presents new evidence by investigating the effect of urban residency during childhood on economic outcomes in adulthood. Causal identification is obtained from an age-at-move design combined with high-quality Brazilian census data. The analysis shows that spending childhood in an environment one log-point denser increases adulthood earnings and wages by 2 - 3 percent. Around half of this effect is due to an increase in educational attainment. The findings suggest that the previous literature, by exclusively focusing on urban exposure during adulthood, has underestimated the causal effect of urban residency on earnings by 50%.

Background Maternal anaemia is a global public health problem contributing to adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes. In addition to other risk factors, interbirth interval has been identified as a potentially modifiable risk factor of maternal anaemia. However, the current evidence for the association between interbirth interval and maternal anaemia remains inconclusive. Hence, this study examined the association between the interbirth interval and maternal anaemia in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods We conducted a multinational cross-sectional study of interbirth interval (time between two singleton live births) and maternal anaemia (haemoglobin levels < 12 g/dl for non-pregnant women, < 11 g/dl for pregnant women) for 21 sub-Saharan African countries using the most recent nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys, 2010–2017. A weighted multivariable fractional polynomial function was used to estimate the non-linear relationship between interbirth interval and maternal anaemia, considering interbirth interval as a continuous variable and adjusting for potential confounders. Analyses were stratified by reproductive classification (non-pregnant and pregnant women). Results There were 81,693 women included in the study (89.2% non-pregnant, 10.8% pregnant). Of all women, 32.2% were in their postpartum period. Overall, 36.9% of women had anaemia (36.0% of non-pregnant and 44.3% of pregnant women). Of the participants, 15% had a short interbirth interval (<24 months), and 16% had a long interbirth interval (≥ 60 months). We found that both short and longer interbirth intervals were associated with an increased risk of maternal anaemia in a dose-response fashion. Relatively a lower risk of maternal anaemia was observed between 24 and 40 months of interbirth intervals. Conclusions Our findings suggest that both short and longer interbirth intervals were associated with an increased risk of maternal anaemia in sub-Saharan Africa.

Introduction Vaccination rates may be improved through culturally tailored messages, but little is known about them among disaggregated Asian-American subgroups. We assessed vaccination rates for key vaccines among these subgroups. Methods Using the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), we analyzed recent vaccination rates (2015-2018, n=188,250) and trends (2006-2018) among Asians (Chinese [n=3165], Asian Indian [n=3525], Filipino [n=3656], other Asian [n=5819]), and non-Hispanic White (NHW) adults [n=172,085] for six vaccines (the Human Papillomavirus [HPV], hepatitis B, pneumococcal, influenza, tetanus-diphtheria [tetanus], and shingles vaccines). We controlled demographic, socioeconomic, and health-related variables in multivariable logistic regression and predicted marginal modeling analyses. We also computed vaccination rates among Asian-American subgroups on the 2015-2018 NHIS data stratified by foreign-born and US-born status. We used Joinpoint regression to analyze trends of vaccination rates. All analyses were conducted in 2021 and 2022. Results Among Asians, shingles (29.2%, 95% CI = [26.6%-32.0%]), tetanus (53.7%, 95% CI = [51.8%-55.6%]), and pneumococcal (53.8%, 95% CI = [50.1%-57.4%]) vaccination rates were lower than NHWs. Influenza (47.9%, 95% CI = [46.2%-49.6%]) and hepatitis B (40.5%, 95% CI = [39.0%-42.7%]) vaccination rates were similar or higher than NHWs (48.4%, 95% CI = [47.9%-48.9%] and 30.7%, 95% CI = [30.1%-31.3%], respectively). Among Asians, we found substantial variations in vaccination rates and trends. For example, Asian Indian women had lower HPV vaccination rates (12.9%, 95% CI = [9.1%-18.0%]) than all other Asian subgroups (Chinese: 37.9%, 95% CI = [31.1%-45.2%]; Filipinos: 38.7%, 95% CI = [29.9%-48.3%]; Other Asians: 30.4%, 95% CI = [24.8%-36.7%]), and non-Hispanic whites (36.1%, 95% CI = [34.8%-37.5%]). Being male, lower education attainment and income, no health insurance or covered by public health insurance only, and lower frequency of doctor visits were generally associated with lower vaccine uptakes. Foreign-born Asian aggregate had lower vaccination rates than US-born Asian aggregate for all vaccines except influenza. We also found subgroup-level differences in vaccination rates between foreign-born and US-born Asians. Compared to their respective US-born counterparts, (a) foreign-born Chinese, Asian Indians, and other Asians had lower HPV and hepatitis B vaccination rates, (b) foreign-born Chinese and Filipinos had lower pneumococcal vaccination rates, (c) foreign-born Chinese and Asian Indians had lower influenza vaccination rates, and (d) all foreign-born Asian subgroups had lower tetanus vaccination rates. Conclusion Vaccination rates and trends differed among Asian-American subgroups. Culturally tailored messaging and interventions may improve vaccine uptakes.

How is job loss distributed in an unexpected downturn, what are the equity consequences, and how do policy responses affect worker welfare? After demonstrating two novel empirical patterns relating job loss risk to earnings, I construct and estimate a search model with heterogeneous job termination rates to explain the prevailing dynamics, and then use it to evaluate the employment and consumption impact of large-scale transfers, unemployment insurance, and an earnings subsidy during a simulated downturn. Transfers have a minimal employment effect unless the shock also reduces savings. Raising unemployment benefits by 30% leads to a 0.6 point increase in the unemployment rate. Adding an earnings subsidy to unemployment benefits raises employment by 7 percentage points at a 23% lower level of inequality, yet increases costs by only 16-30%. The tradeoff is lower employment at better paying jobs versus higher consumption at subsidized low-wage jobs. In contrast to a compensating differentials framework, the model shows that lower earners tend to be more at risk for layoffs, and that this effect is stronger following a negative aggregate shock. Following a simulated shock, mean consumption falls by 5% yet consumption at the 10th percentile drops by 16%.

We study the effect of political regime change on higher education and its distributional consequences. We focus on Chile's military dictatorship under Augusto Pinochet, a regime characterized by a conservative ideology, severe repression, and a technocratic approach to policy-making. After coming to power through a coup in 1973, the Pinochet regime steadily reduced government funding for higher education, which led to fewer openings for new college students and lower tertiary enrollment. These cuts disproportionately affected college applicants from less affluent backgrounds. Exploiting the greater exposure to the contraction of higher education experienced by birth cohorts that reached college age shortly after the 1973 coup, we show that those affected had lower college enrollment, worse labor market outcomes, and struggled to climb up the socioeconomic ladder. These findings suggest that the contraction of higher education hindered social mobility and plausibly contributed to the increase in inequality observed under Pinochet.

This paper uses immigration to investigate the intergenerational transmission of culture. The culture is proxied by nonmarital fertility and age at the first birth in the immigrant’s home country. Using the Current Population Survey, Censuses, and American Community Survey data covering the years 1970–2020, we find that average outcomes in the home country can explain a statistically significant portion of immigrants’ behavior. Furthermore, we rule out the influence of confounders by including a rich set of demographic and socioeconomic familial controls, other important home country characteristics, as well as state-by-year fixed effects. We find that a one-percentage-point increase in nonmarital fertility rate in the mother’s country of birth is associated with an 8.7 basis-point increase in the likelihood of nonmarital birth among second-generation women. Similarly, a one-year increase in age at first birth in the mother’s birthplace is associated with 0.37&nbsp;years increase in age at first birth among second generations. The results show that there are cultural factors associated with nonmarital fertility and age at the first birth that can be transmitted from one generation to the next.

Background and Objectives: Although studies pointed out that the number of personal care aides (PCAs) at risk of being in informal employment arrangements is sizeable, little is known about its size and worker characteristics. This study aimed to estimate the share of PCAs working as household employees or independent contractors. It also aimed to compare their basic job characteristics against the job characteristics of those working as agency and government employees. Research Design and Methods: Using data from the 2014-2018 American Community Surveys, a sample of 43,287 PCAs working for pay in the home-and community-based service (HCBS) industry was identified, and their job characteristics-full-time weekly work (i.e., working at least 35 hours per week), year-round work (i.e., working at least 50 weeks a year), and annual gross earning-were analyzed by their employment arrangement. Results: Analyses found that (a) close to a quarter of aides in the HCBS industry work as household employees or independent contractors while their share in the workforce varies by state and that (b) the work hours and earnings of full-time year-round working household employees or independent contractors are greater than those of their agency counterparts. The results shed light on why some aides may work as household employees or independent contractors. Discussion and Implications: The presence of household employees and independent contractors has important implications for PCAs' job characteristics and labor shortage in the U.S. home care industry. Considering the potentially negative consequences for both the aides' economic security and the quality of care that consumers can receive, attention should be paid to ways to bring the aides into a more formal employment arrangement.

Affordable housing has declined in recent decades, yet limited research has examined the demographic and economic changes influencing place-level affordability—especially outside of large metros. In this study I examine the effects of county-level population growth and decline, population aging, and natural amenity development on rates of affordable housing, income, and housing costs across four types of counties. While declines in affordability from 1990 to 2016 were universal between rural and urban counties, population growth is associated with decreases in affordability in rural counties but increased affordability in large metros counties due to estimated decreases in housing costs. Population aging is estimated to improve affordability in large and small metro counties, despite the associated decrease in income and housing costs across all county types. The effects of aging vary greatly between owners and renters. Natural amenity development, despite its theoretical importance, is not associated with changes in affordability for rural counties.

As cities increase in size, total wages grow superlinearly, meaning that average wages are higher in larger cities. This phenomenon, known as the urban wage premium, supports the notion that urbanization and the growth of cities contribute positively to human well-being. However, it remains unclear how the distribution of wages changes as cities grow. Here we segment the populations of U.S. cities into wage deciles and determine the scaling coefficient of each decile’s aggregate wages versus city size. We find that, while total wages of all deciles grow superlinearly with city size, the effect is uneven, with total wages of the highest wage earners growing faster than all other deciles. We show that this corresponds with the predominance of high-wage jobs in larger cities. Thus, the effects of urbanization are mixed -- it is associated with higher average wages but with increasing inequality, thus inhibiting prospects for long-term sustainability.

This paper re-enters the contested discussion surrounding the Indian Enigma, the high prevalence of chronic undernutrition in India relative to sub-Saharan Africa. Jayachandran & Pande argue that the key to the Indian enigma lies in the worse treatment of higher birth order children, particularly girls. Analyzing new data, we find: (1) Parameter estimates are sensitive to sampling design and model specification; (2) The gap between the heights of pre-school African and Indian children is closing; (3) The gap does not appear to be driven by differential associations by birth order and child sex; (4) The remaining gap is associated with differences in maternal heights. If Indian women had the heights of their African counterparts, pre-school Indian children would be taller than pre-school African children; and (5) Once we account for survey design, sibling size and maternal height, the coefficient associated with being an Indian girl is no longer statistically significant.

Using the 2017–2018 American Time Use Survey, the authors investigate how a comprehensive set of temporal conditions of paid work affects parental child care time, with attention to gender and education. Temporal work conditions include access to leave, inflexible start and end times, short advance notice of work schedules, types of work shifts, and usual days worked. Among mothers, the only significant relationship is between usual days worked and routine care time. Among fathers, lacking access to paid leave and having inflexible start and end times are associated with reduced routine care time, and working on variable days of the week is related to less developmental care time. Temporal work conditions also shape the educational gap in parental child care time. Importantly, nonstandard shifts and working on weekends widen the educational gradient in mothers’ developmental care time. The findings imply that temporal work conditions amplify gender inequality in work-family lives and families as agents of class reproduction.

Importance Little is known about emergency department (ED) use among people with diabetes and whether the pattern of ED use varies across geographic areas and population subgroups. Objective To estimate recent national- and state-level trends in diabetes-related ED use overall and by race and ethnicity, rural or urban location, and insurance status. Design, Setting, and Participants This cross-sectional study of adults visiting the ED with a diabetes-related diagnosis used serial data from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample, a nationally representative database, and discharge records from 11 state emergency department databases for 2008, 2011, 2014, and 2016 to 2017. Data were analyzed from March 16 to November 9, 2020. Exposures Reported race and ethnicity, rural or urban location, and insurance status. Data were stratified to generate state-specific estimates. Main Outcomes and Measures Rates of ED use for all-cause visits among adults with diabetes (all-cause diabetes visits) and visits with primary diagnoses of diabetes-specific complications. Results A larger portion of all-cause diabetes ED visits (n = 32 433 015) were by female (56.8%) and middle-aged (mean [SD] age, 58.4 [16.3] years) adults with diabetes. Nationally, all-cause diabetes ED visits per 10 000 adults increased 55.6% (95% CI, 50.6%-60.6%), from 257.6 (95% CI, 249.9-265.3) visits in 2008 to 400.8 (95% CI, 387.6-414.0) visits in 2017. All-cause diabetes ED visits increased more for urban (58.3%; 95% CI, 52.5%-64.1%) and uninsured subgroups (75.3% [95% CI, 59.8%-90.8%]) than for their counterparts. Diabetes-specific ED visits (weighted number of 1 911 795) nationally increased slightly among all subgroups. State-specific ED use rates show wide state-to-state variations in ED use by race and ethnicity, rural or urban location, and insurance. On average across states, diabetes-specific ED use among Black patients was approximately 3 times (rate ratio, 3.09 [95% CI, 2.91-3.30]) greater than among non-Hispanic White patients, and among Hispanic patients, it was 29% greater (rate ratio, 1.29 [95% CI, 1.19-1.40]) than among non-Hispanic White patients. The mean rate of ED use among rural patients was 34% greater (rate ratio, 1.34 [95% CI, 1.26-1.44]) than among urban patients. The mean rates of ED use among patients with Medicaid (rate ratio, 6.65 [95% CI, 6.49-6.82]) and Medicare (rate ratio, 4.37 [95% CI, 4.23-4.51]) were greater than among privately insured adults. Conclusions and Relevance This study suggests that disparities in diabetes-related ED use associated with race and ethnicity, rural or urban location, and insurance status were persistent from 2008 to 2017 within and across states, as well as nationally. Further geographic and demographic-specific analyses are needed to understand the sources of inequity.

We studied the impact of Affordable Care Act navigator programs on health insurance coverage, using the 80 percent cut in program funding under the Trump administration as a natural experiment. Our study design exploited county-level differences in the program prior to funding cuts. We did not find that cuts to the program significantly decreased rates of marketplace coverage or any health insurance coverage by 2019; however, our estimates could not rule out marketplace coverage declines of up to 2.7 percent (point estimate −1.3 percent, 95 percent CI: 2.7 percent to 0.1 percent), or total coverage declines of up to 1.8 percentage points (point estimate −0.8 percentage points or −1.2 percent, 95 percent CI: −1.8 to 0.2). Cuts to the navigator program significantly decreased marketplace coverage and total coverage among lower-income adults, and significantly decreased total coverage among adults under age 45, Hispanic adults, and adults who speak a language other than English at home. We found no significant impact of the cuts on Medicaid enrollment (95 percent CI: −1.9 percentage points to 0.5 percentage points); most uninsured people in the states we studied lived in locations that had not implemented Medicaid eligibility expansions. These findings suggest that before the funding cuts, navigators were helping underserved consumers obtain coverage.