Life Course Pathways of Economic Hardship and Mobility and Midlife Trajectories of Health

Willson, Andrea E.; Shuey, Kim M.

doi:10.1177/0022146516660345

Cited by 29 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 66 publications

(79 reference statements)

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“…Midlife is typically when the onset of chronic disease and functional limitations occurs [27]. Health challenges are more likely, in terms of number and severity, among low-income, relative to high-income, middle-aged adults [29,30]. Poor health in midlife may be connected to food insecurity through several paths including reduced ability (e.g., mobility, strength, dexterity) to locate, access, and prepare inexpensive nutritious food.…”

Section: Health Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Midlife vulnerability and food insecurity: Findings from low-income adults in the US National Health Interview Survey

et al. 2020

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Background Food insecurity, limited access to adequate food, in adulthood is associated with poor health outcomes that suggest a pattern of accelerated aging. However, little is known about factors that impact food insecurity in midlife which in turn could help to identify potential pathways of accelerated aging. Methods Low-income adults (n = 17,866; 2014 National Health Interview Survey), ages 18 to 84, completed a 10-item food security module and answered questions regarding health challenges (chronic conditions and functional limitations) and financial worry. We used multinomial logistic regression for complex samples to assess the association of health challenges and financial worry with food insecurity status and determine whether these associations differed by age group, while adjusting for poverty, sex, race/ethnicity, education, family structure, social security, and food assistance. Results Food insecurity rates were highest in late-(37.5%) and early-(36.0%) midlife, relative to younger (33.7%) and older (20.2%) age groups and, furthermore, age moderated the relationship between food insecurity and both risk factors (interaction p-values < .05, for both). The effects of poor health were stronger in midlife relative to younger and older ages. Unlike younger and older adults, however, adults in midlife showed high levels of food insecurity regardless of financial worry. Conclusions Findings suggest that food insecurity in midlife may be more severe than previously thought. Greater efforts are needed to identify those at greatest risk and intervene early to slow premature aging.

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Section: Health Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Midlife vulnerability and food insecurity: Findings from low-income adults in the US National Health Interview Survey

et al. 2020

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“…This would also represent a step forward in elucidating the ways in which individuals access alternative sources of income to weather economic uncertainty and prevent falling into poverty. These perspectives are useful in unpacking how disability acts as both a cause and consequence of poverty, especially as it intersects with race and gender in explaining cumulative disadvantage (see Kelley-Moore and Ferraro 2004; Warner and Brown 2011; Willson and Shuey 2016).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hierarchies of Categorical Disadvantage: Economic Insecurity at the Intersection of Disability, Gender, and Race

2018

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Intersectional feminist scholars emphasize how overlapping systems of oppression structure gender inequality, but in focusing on the gendered, classed, and racialized bases of stratification, many often overlook disability as an important social category in determining economic outcomes. This is a significant omission given that disability severely limits opportunities and contributes to cumulative disadvantage. We draw from feminist disability and intersectional theories to account for how disability intersects with gender, race, and education to produce economic insecurity. The findings from our analyses of 2015 American Community Survey data provide strong empirical support for hierarchies of disadvantage, where women and racial minority groups with disabilities and less education experience the highest poverty levels, report the lowest total income, and have a greater reliance on sources outside the labor market for economic security. By taking disability into account, our study demonstrates how these multiple characteristics lead to overlapping oppressions that become embedded and reproduced within the larger social structure.

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“…Thus, future research should extend this study by examining the intersections of family attainments. However, future research along these lines will need to use methods that can help identify meaningful clusters of family attainments, for example, latent class analysis (Willson & Shuey, 2016), or a much larger sample to accommodate the data requirements of regression models that include interactions between three or more correlated variables.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age, Cohort, and Social Change: Parental and Spousal Education and White Women’s Health Limitations From 1967 to 2012

Wolfe

2018

Res Aging

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A large body of research finds that the association between educational attainment and health is at historic highs for White women. Rapid changes in labor force participation, access to high-paying jobs, and gender attitudes have radically altered the meaning of education for women's lives and their dependence on the socioeconomic attainments of their families. Drawing on three nationally representative longitudinal surveys conducted from 1967 to 2012, this study examines how personal, parental, and spousal attainments contribute to the widening education gap in health for successive cohorts of White women ( N = 8,405). Overall, the health of women did not change substantially across cohorts, but results did uncover cohort differences among low-educated women that were linked to parental and spousal educational attainments and personal earnings. These findings confirm growing educational inequalities in health and demonstrate the importance of historical context and family attainments when examining cohort variation in the education-health relationship.

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Life Course Pathways of Economic Hardship and Mobility and Midlife Trajectories of Health

Cited by 29 publications

References 66 publications

Midlife vulnerability and food insecurity: Findings from low-income adults in the US National Health Interview Survey

Midlife vulnerability and food insecurity: Findings from low-income adults in the US National Health Interview Survey

Hierarchies of Categorical Disadvantage: Economic Insecurity at the Intersection of Disability, Gender, and Race

Age, Cohort, and Social Change: Parental and Spousal Education and White Women’s Health Limitations From 1967 to 2012

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