Poverty and Mobility
Racial and social class gradients in life expectancy in contemporary California
Christina Clarke, Tim Miller, Ellen Chang, Daixin Yin, Myles Cockburn & Scarlett Gomez
Social Science & Medicine, May 2010, Pages 1373-1380
Abstract:
Life expectancy, or the estimated average age of death, is among the most basic measures of a population's health. However, monitoring differences in life expectancy among sociodemographically defined populations has been challenging, at least in the United States (US), because death certification does not include collection of markers of socioeconomic status (SES). In order to understand how SES and race/ethnicity independently and jointly affected overall health in a contemporary US population, we assigned a small-area-based measure of SES to all 689,036 deaths occurring in California during a three-year period (1999-2001) overlapping the most recent US census. Residence at death was geocoded to the smallest census area available (block group) and assigned to a quintile of a multifactorial SES index. We constructed life tables using mortality rates calculated by age, sex, race/ethnicity and neighborhood SES quintile, and produced corresponding life expectancy estimates. We found a 19.6 (±0.6) year gap in life expectancy between the sociodemographic groups with the longest life expectancy (highest SES quintile of Asian females; 84.9 years) and the shortest (lowest SES quintile of African-American males; 65.3 years). A positive SES gradient in life expectancy was observed among whites and African-Americans but not Hispanics or Asians. Age-specific mortality disparities varied among groups. Race/ethnicity and neighborhood SES had substantial and independent influences on life expectancy, underscoring the importance of monitoring health outcomes simultaneously by these factors. African-American males living in the poorest 20% of California neighborhoods had life expectancy comparable to that reported for males living in developing countries. Neighborhood SES represents a readily-available metric for ongoing surveillance of health disparities in the US.
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Get a job and keep it! High school employment and adult wealth accumulation
Matthew Painter
Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, June 2010, Pages 233-249
Abstract:
Wealth inequality receives substantial scholarly attention, but mounting evidence suggests that childhood and adolescent traits and experiences contribute to financial disparities in the United States. This study examines the relationship between adolescent labor force participation and adult wealth accumulation. I argue that employed high school students gain practical life skills, abilities, and knowledge from work experience and business exposure that shape investment decisions and affect overall net worth. I use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979 cohort, to empirically explore this idea. This study extends the wealth literature by identifying adolescent employment as an important mechanism that improves adult net worth and financial well-being.
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Brian Richard
Journal of Gambling Studies, June 2010, Pages 287-300
Abstract:
This study uses an event history analysis to examine the factors that lead to the adoption of casino gambling among 13 nations around the world. Specifically, measures of fiscal stress, economic development, tourism, religiosity, and income levels are tested for their relationship to national decisions to legalize casino gambling. This study found that economic development needs, as measured by general unemployment rates, were associated with the casino legalization decisions of national governments. Higher unemployment rates were more likely in the years that nations legalized casino gambling. Religiosity, measured by frequency of church attendance, was also found to be a significant barrier in legalization decisions. Measures of fiscal stress, tourism, and income levels were not found to have significant relationships with the legalization decisions. This is interesting because these factors are often cited in case studies, media reports, and the statements of politicians during legalization processes. This study points to the need for further research in several areas. Further exploration of potential explanatory variables and more appropriate measures of currently theorized factors is warranted. Another area for further research is the seeming contradictory findings of multiple statistical analyses and multiple anecdotal findings of the impacts of fiscal stress on the casino legalization decision.
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Identifying the Poor: Poverty Measurement for the U.S. from 1996 to 2005
Thesia Garner & Kathleen Short
Review of Income and Wealth, June 2010, Pages 237-258
Abstract:
The poverty measure presented compares spending needs to resources available to meet those needs. The analysis is for the U.S.; however, lessons from other countries regarding desirable properties of a poverty measure are considered. A primary focus is internal consistency between thresholds and resources. This study is among the first for the U.S. to describe an internally consistent poverty measure, drawing from recommendations of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Thresholds reflect spending needs as "outflows." Resources measure "inflows" available to meet spending needs. The U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey is used for thresholds, and the Current Population Survey is the basis for resources. Trends are reported with comparisons to the official and a relative measure. An important finding is that increases in expenditures for shelter, captured in the NAS thresholds, suggest a greater increase in the number of families not able to meet basic needs than is reflected by official poverty statistics over this time period.
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The First of the Month Effect: Consumer Behavior and Store Responses
Justine Hastings & Ebonya Washington
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, May 2010, Pages 142-162
Abstract:
Previous research has demonstrated that benefit recipients decrease expenditures on, and consumption of, food throughout the benefit month. Using detailed grocery store scanner data, we ask two questions: whether cycling is due to a desire for variety that leads to within-month substitution across product quality, and whether cycling is driven by countercyclical retail pricing. We find that the decrease in food expenditures is largely driven by reductions in quantity, not quality, and that prices for foods purchased by benefit households vary pro-cyclically with demand, implying that households could save money by delaying their food purchases until later in the month.
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Income Inequality, Volatility, and Mobility Risk in China and the US
Austin Nichols
China Economic Review, forthcoming
Abstract:
A unified index of income inequality, volatility, and mobility risk is presented, and measurements based on US and Chinese panel data calculated. China is found to have higher income volatility than the US in recent data, so that long-run inequality is comparable in the two countries, and short-run inequality overstates long-run inequality more in China than in the US. In both countries volatility and income inequality are increasing over time.
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Children's Sleep and Adjustment Over Time: The Role of Socioeconomic Context
Mona El-Sheikh, Ryan Kelly, Joseph Buckhalt & Benjamin Hinnant
Child Development, May/June 2010, Pages 870-883
Abstract:
Relations were examined between children's sleep and their externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Longitudinal relations were examined when children were in 3rd (T1) and 5th (T2) grades, and cross-sectional relations were assessed at T2. Participants included 176 children at T1 (M = 8.68 years) and 141 children at T2 (M = 10.70 years). Sleep was examined via subjective reports and actigraphy. Children reported on anxiety, self-esteem, and depression symptoms, and parents reported on children's externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Cross-sectionally and longitudinally, sleep problems were associated with worse adjustment outcomes; African American children or those from lower socioeconomic status homes were at particular risk. Findings highlight the importance of adequate sleep for children's optimal development, especially in the context of ecological risk.
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Poverty and common mental disorders in low and middle income countries: A systematic review
Crick Lund, Alison Breen, Alan Flisher, Ritsuko Kakuma, Joanne Corrigall, John Joska, Leslie Swartz & Vikram Patel
Social Science & Medicine, forthcoming
Abstract:
In spite of high levels of poverty in low and middle-income countries (LMIC), and the high burden posed by common mental disorders (CMD), it is only in the last two decades that research has emerged that empirically addresses the relationship between poverty and CMD in these countries. We conducted a systematic review of the epidemiological literature in LMIC, with the aim of examining this relationship. Of 115 studies that were reviewed, most reported positive associations between a range of poverty indicators and CMD. In community-based studies, 73% and 79% of studies reported positive associations between a variety of poverty measures and CMD, 19% and 15% reported null associations and 8% and 6% reported negative associations, using bivariate and multivariate analyses respectively. However, closer examination of specific poverty dimensions revealed a complex picture, in which there was substantial variation between these dimensions. While variables such as education, food insecurity, housing, social class, socio-economic status and financial stress exhibit a relatively consistent and strong association with CMD, others such as income, employment and particularly consumption are more equivocal. There are several measurement and population factors that may explain variation in the strength of the relationship between poverty and CMD. By presenting a systematic review of the literature, this paper attempts to shift the debate from questions about whether poverty is associated with CMD in LMIC, to questions about which particular dimensions of poverty carry the strongest (or weakest) association. The relatively consistent association between CMD and a variety of poverty dimensions in LMIC serves to strengthen the case for the inclusion of mental health on the agenda of development agencies and in international targets such as the millenium development goals.
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Do the Poor Adapt to Low Income, Minimal Education and Ill-health?
Abigail Barr & David Clark
Journal of African Economies, June 2010, Pages 257-293
Abstract:
We add to the small set of studies that investigate adaptation to low income among the poor and extend the analysis to education and health. In accordance with previous studies, we find that beliefs about the amounts of income necessary to get by and live well increase with both own household income and the incomes of proximate others. We also find a positive relationship between beliefs about education necessary to get by and live well and own education. However, people believe that more health is necessary to get by when a greater proportion of proximate others are ill or disabled.
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Alcohol, unemployment rates and advertising bans: International panel evidence, 1975-2000
Jon Nelson
Journal of Public Affairs, February-May 2010, Pages 74-87
Abstract:
This paper presents empirical evidence on the relationship between alcohol consumption and unemployment for an international panel of countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). I find a significant negative or pro-cyclical relationship between unemployment and alcohol consumption, which agrees closely with prior estimates for the United States. This finding indicates that economic factors tend to dominate possible stress-induced changes in alcohol use. Model specifications control for non-stationary panel data and for a variety of other economic and cultural factors, including prices, income, wine sentiment, tourism, population ageing and restrictive policies pertaining to alcohol use and marketing. The effects of advertising bans are statistically insignificant or have contrary coefficient signs, while a composite index for other alcohol control policies is negative.
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Negotiating the discourse of race within the United States welfare system
Vicki Lens & Colleen Cary
Ethnic and Racial Studies, June 2010, Pages 1032-1048
Abstract:
The incendiary dynamic between race and welfare in the United States is well-known. An under explored aspect of this dynamic is how recipients of colour navigate the racial undercurrents that permeate welfare and which may result in differential treatment. Drawing from qualitative interviews with twenty-four recipients of colour, this study seeks to understand the ways in which they negotiate their relationships with workers. The study finds that to deflect racial stereotypes, participants monitor their behaviour for traces of anger that could be construed as 'street' rather than 'decent', and divorce themselves from those that don't. Participants also rejected the discourse of citizenship, seeking to sooth and placate workers rather than asserting a right to benefits. This discourse replicates historical patterns of powerlessness in the United States, where the need to beseech rather than insist and avoid appearing too angry resonates loudly for people of colour. This serves to reinforce the dominant discourse of undeservingness and racial stereotyping within the welfare system.