Race and Ethnicity in the Labor Market; Employer Practices and Worker Strategies

J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities

Caldwell

2017

139

192

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Risk of Depression in High-Income African American Boys

J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities

Caldwell

2017

139

192

“…Due to labor market preferences and practices, minorities have a lower chance of obtaining employment, obtaining high-paying employment, and receiving a promotion in their current employment at each educational level (Spalter-Roth 2007;Proudford and Nkomo 2006). Even at higher education levels, minorities are exposed to high levels of discrimination (Williams et al 2003), which reduces the protective effects of their education (Assari and Caldwell 2017;Hudson et al 2012) and increases their risk for undesired health outcomes (Williams et al 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental Education Better Helps White than Black Families Escape Poverty: National Survey of Children’s Health

2018

Economies

123

According to the Blacks' Diminished Return theory, the health effects of high socioeconomic status (SES) are systemically smaller for Black compared to White families. One hypothesis is that due to the existing structural racism that encompasses residential segregation, low quality of education, low paying jobs, discrimination in the labor market, and extra costs of upward social mobility for minorities, Black families face more challenges for leveraging their education to escape poverty. Aims: Using a nationally representative sample of American families with children, this study investigated racial variation in the effects of highest education of parents on family's ability to scale poverty, defined as the household's income-to-needs ratio. Methods: This cross-sectional study used data from the National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) 2003-2004-a nationally representative telephone survey that included 86,537 parents of children 0-17 years old. The sample was composed of White (n = 76,403, 88.29%) and Black (n = 10,134, 11.71%) families. The independent variable was highest education of the parents. The dependent variable was household poverty status (income-to-needs ratio). Race was the focal moderator. Linear regression was used in the pooled sample, as well as by race. Results: In the pooled sample, higher education of parents in the household was associated with lower risk of poverty. Race, however, interacted with parental education attainment on household-income-to-needs ratio, indicating smaller effects for Black compared to White families. Lower number of parents and higher number of children in Black families did not explain such racial disparities. Conclusions: The economic gain of parental education on helping family escape poverty is smaller for Black than White families, and this is not as a result of a lower parent-to-child ratio in Black households. Policies should specifically address structural barriers in the lives of all minorities to minimize the diminished return of SES resources across racial minority groups. Policies should also enhance quality of education and reduce the extra cost of upward social mobility for racial minorities. As the likely causes are multilevel, the solutions should also be multilevel. Without such interventions, it may be very difficult if not impossible to eliminate the existing economic and health gap between racial groups.

“…In the U.S., race is one of the main determinants of employment opportunities and employer choices ( 23 – 25 ). Structural inequalities due to race exist in the labor market preferences in the U.S. ( 26 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Education and Alcohol Consumption among Older Americans; Black–White Differences

Lankarani²

2016

Front. Public Health

138

174

PurposeAlthough the link between education and alcohol consumption is known, limited information exists on racial differences in this link. We conducted the current study to test Black–White differences in the association between education and alcohol consumption among older adults in the U.S.MethodsThis cross-sectional survey enrolled 1,493 Black (n = 734) and White (n = 759) older adults (age 66 or more) in U.S. Data came from the Religion, Aging, and Health Survey, 2001. Race, demographics, socioeconomics, and alcohol consumption were measured. Independent variable was education level. Outcome was alcohol consumption. Race was the focal moderator. Logistic regression was used for data analysis.ResultsEducation was positively associated with ever drinking in the pooled sample. However, race interacted with education level on drinking, suggesting a smaller effect of education on drinking for Blacks compared to Whites. Among Whites, high-school graduation and college graduation were associated with increased odds of ever drinking, net of covariates. Among Blacks, high-school graduation, but not college graduation, was associated with ever drinking.ConclusionBlacks and Whites differ in how socioeconomic status (i.e., education) shapes behaviors, especially health behaviors (i.e., drinking). How race modifies consequences and correlates of social determinants of health is not yet clear. College graduation may result in the same level of change to the social network and income of race group members. Weaker effect of education on health of Blacks may be due to the structural role of race and racism that has resulted in lower job availability and pay for Blacks.