Fundamental resource dis/advantages, youth health and adult educational outcomes

A New Paradigm for Addressing Health Disparities in Inner-City Environments: Adopting a Disaster Zone Approach

Inner cities are characterized by intergenerational poverty, limited educational opportunities, poor health, and high levels of segregation. Human capital, defined as the intangible, yet integral economically productive aspects of individuals, is limited by factors influencing inner-city populations. Inner-city environments are consistent with definitions of disasters causing a level of suffering that exceeds the capacity of the affected community. This article presents a framework for improving health among inner-city populations using a multidisciplinary approach drawn from medicine, economics, and disaster response. Results from focus groups and photovoice conducted in Milwaukee, WI are used as a case study for a perspective on using this approach to address health disparities. A disaster approach provides a long-term focus on improving overall health and decreasing health disparities in the inner city, instead of a short-term focus on immediate relief of a single symptom. Adopting a disaster approach to inner-city environments is an innovative way to address the needs of those living in some of the most marginalized communities in the country.

Mental and physical health impairments at the transition to college: Early patterns in the education-health gradient

Part of the education-health gradient may be related to inequalities in the transition from high school to college by health impairment status. In this paper, we use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to investigate the link between health impairments beginning prior to high school completion and college-going, distinguishing between individuals with mental, physical, or multiple health impairments and between enrollment in 2-year and 4-year postsecondary institutions. We find that individuals with mental impairments or multiple impairments are less likely to initially enroll in 4-year postsecondary institutions than individuals without health impairments, controlling on background and high school preparation. We also find evidence that advanced math course-taking in high school, an important step on the pathway to a 4-year college for all students, does not provide students with mental impairments the same return as students without health impairments. We discuss implications for policy to address educational inequalities in health.

Birth Weight and Early Cognitive Skills: Can Parenting Offset the Link?

Objectives There is an enduring negative association between low birth weight (<2500 g) and early childhood cognitive skills. This study examines if parenting practices meaningfully contribute to or offset birth weight disparities in cognitive development prior to formal schooling. Methods This study uses the ECLS-B, a nationally representative sample of live births in the United States in 2001. Unlike studies focused on one or two measures of parenting and investment, this study considers a wide array parenting measures collected at multiple time points, tracked from before birth across 5 years of development. Results Regression results show that nearly 50 % of the low-birth-weight gap in early math and reading ability is associated with family socioeconomic status. Between-family OLS regressions show that parenting practices, including "parental interaction," "cognitive stimulation," and "parent quality", are negatively associated with low birth weight and positively associated with improved cognitive skill among all children. After adjustment for family socioeconomic status, parenting practices did little to offset (by mediation or moderation) remaining birth weight disparities in early cognitive development. Conclusions Effective parenting is positively associated with cognitive development, but parenting is not a panacea-the developmental disadvantages associated with poor child health are not linked to parenting practices. We argue that birth weight disparities are rooted in biology and cannot easily be offset by parenting practices.

Associations of Educational Attainment With Disability and Life Expectancy by Race and Gender in the United States

OBJECTIVE

This study provides estimates of associations of education with life expectancy and the percentage of remaining life from age 40 with disability.

METHOD

We used the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, 1999-2011 ( n = 8,763; 94,246 person-years), measuring five education levels. We estimated probabilities of disability and death with multinomial logistic Markov models, and used microsimulations beginning at age 40, controlling for gender, race/ethnicity, age, and disability.

RESULTS

With college education, African American and White women, and African American and White men, respectively, lived 46.6%, 44.0%, 55.2%, and 50.4% more years from age 40 than those educated at less than the ninth grade ( p < .001). Corresponding percentages of life with disability were lower with high education, by 37.9%, 38.9%, 41.0%, and 39.9% ( p < .001). There was little evidence of outcome differences between African Americans and Whites within education levels.

DISCUSSION

Low education is associated with shorter lives with much more disability.