Disparities in Debt: Why Debt is a Driver in the Racial Wealth Gap

Racial wealth inequality has been pervasive in the United States from the earliest days of colonization 400 years ago. Despite Constitutional guarantees of equality and numerous anti-discrimination laws, racial wealth gaps not only remain but some are growing. Scholars, policymakers, and others have deeply investigated the historical roots and current drivers of racial wealth inequality in the United States. Most analyses focus on total asset holdings, intergenerational transfers, or disparities in specific assets (such as home equity). Media coverage and social narratives about racial wealth gaps similarly tend to concentrate on assets.Less attention has been paid to the other side of the household balance sheet: debt. Although there has been analysis of racial disparities in mortgages, and recent research has illuminated the role of student loans in widening the wealth gap between Black and white households, debt remains under-appreciated as a driver of racial wealth gaps.This brief explores the links between racial disparities in debt and those in wealth. It is informed by traditional research and by Aspen FSP's years of engagement with consumers and families about their financial challenges. It reflects findings from a literature review, interviews with experts from the academic and private sectors, analysis of federal survey data, and focus groups and consumer surveys. We believe that fully understanding the impact of debt on people's lives requires a multidisciplinary approach that includes systematically seeking input from and listening to people who struggle financially.  The growth in racial wealth inequality makes it imperative that policymakers, business leaders, and nonprofit and philanthropic institutions invest in strategies that increase wealth accumulation among those with the least and reduce racial disparities across every dimension of personal net worth. This brief provides a resource for leaders across sectors to understand more deeply the interactions between racial disparities in debt and racial gaps in wealth and the ways in which redressing the racial wealth gap requires addressing racial debt disparities

With Federal Moratorium Expiring, 15 Million People at Risk of Eviction

Nationwide, renters are recovering from an unprecedented economic crisis. With vaccines widely accessible, employment rising, and federal and state benefits available to millions of people, many of the over 100 million people living in rental housing are making a gradual recovery. Despite this progress, a meaningful percentage of renters are on the precipice of eviction, displacement, and homelessness. More than 15 million people live in households that are currently behind on their rental payments (7.4 million adults, 6.5 million households), which places them at legal risk of eviction. According to one estimate, these households collectively owe more than $20 billion to their landlords. On a per tenant basis, average debt owed to landlords exceeds$3,000, with significant variation based on time away from work, family needs, and other factors.When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) eviction moratorium ends on July 31st, these renters may face eviction, civil lawsuits for unpaid rent, and aggressive debt collection—crises that will continue to cause harm years into the future. Nearly 50% of those who are behind on rent anticipate that they will be evicted in the next two months. The threat of eviction is particularly acute for renters of color. Currently, 22% of Black renters and 17% of Latinx renters are in debt to their landlords, compared to 15% overall and 11% of White renters. Rental debt is also challenging for renters with children, with 19% unable to make payments.This report highlights the current number of people at risk of eviction as the federal moratorium expires, how we got here, and policies states can implement to help prevent a wave of evictions from cascading into long-term health and financial crises for millions of households

Profiling Volatile Constituents of Homemade Preserved Foods Prepared in Early 1950s South Dakota (USA) Using Solid-Phase Microextraction (SPME) with Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) Determination

https://scholar.dsu.edu/research-symposium/1013/thumbnail.jp

On the performance of the intermediate Hamiltonian Fock-space coupled-cluster method on linear triatomic molecules: The electronic spectra of NpO2+, NpO22+, and Pu O22

International audienceIn this paper we explore the use of the novel relativistic intermediate Hamiltonian Fock-space coupled-cluster method in the calculation of the electronic spectrum for small actinyl ions (NpO2+, NpO22+, and PuO22+). It is established that the method, in combination with uncontracted double-zeta quality basis sets, yields excitation energies in good agreement with experimental values, and better than those obtained previously with other theoretical methods. We propose the reassignment of some of the peaks that were observed experimentally, and confirm other assignments

Profiling Volatile Emissions from Sewage Sludge Land-Applied Across Washington State (USA) Using Headspace Sampling with Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) Determination

https://scholar.dsu.edu/research-symposium/1012/thumbnail.jp

Birthweight and risk markers for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in childhood: the Child Heart and Health Study in England (CHASE).

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Lower birthweight (a marker of fetal undernutrition) is associated with higher risks of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and could explain ethnic differences in these diseases. We examined associations between birthweight and risk markers for diabetes and CVD in UK-resident white European, South Asian and black African-Caribbean children. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study of risk markers for diabetes and CVD in 9- to 10-year-old children of different ethnic origins, birthweight was obtained from health records and/or parental recall. Associations between birthweight and risk markers were estimated using multilevel linear regression to account for clustering in children from the same school. RESULTS: Key data were available for 3,744 (66%) singleton study participants. In analyses adjusted for age, sex and ethnicity, birthweight was inversely associated with serum urate and positively associated with systolic BP. After additional height adjustment, lower birthweight (per 100 g) was associated with higher serum urate (0.52%; 95% CI 0.38, 0.66), fasting serum insulin (0.41%; 95% CI 0.08, 0.74), HbA1c (0.04%; 95% CI 0.00, 0.08), plasma glucose (0.06%; 95% CI 0.02, 0.10) and serum triacylglycerol (0.30%; 95% CI 0.09, 0.51) but not with BP or blood cholesterol. Birthweight was lower among children of South Asian (231 g lower; 95% CI 183, 280) and black African-Caribbean origin (81 g lower; 95% CI 30, 132). However, adjustment for birthweight had no effect on ethnic differences in risk markers. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Birthweight was inversely associated with urate and with insulin and glycaemia after adjustment for current height. Lower birthweight does not appear to explain emerging ethnic difference in risk markers for diabetes

Three-Port Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy in a Brazilian Amazon Woman with Situs Inversus Totalis: Surgical Approach

Situs inversus totalis (SIT) is an uncommon anomaly characterized by transposition of organs to the opposite side of the body in a mirror image of normal. We report on an adult woman, born and resident in Brazilian Amazonia, presenting acute pain located at the left hypochondrium and epigastrium. During clinical and radiological evaluation, the patient was found to have SIT and multiple stones cholelithiasis. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was safely performed with the three-port technique in a reverse fashion. In conclusion, this case confirms that three-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a safe and feasible surgical approach to treat cholelithiasis even in rare and challenging conditions like SIT

Impacts of large and small barriers on fish assemblage composition assessed using environmental DNA metabarcoding

River fragmentation caused by instream barriers is a leading cause of biodiversity loss, particularly for freshwater migratory fish, the vertebrate group that has suffered the steepest decline. However, most studies have tended to focus on the impacts of large dams on only a few taxa. We estimated the cumulative impact of both large and small barriers on fish species richness and relative abundance along an altitudinal gradient in the main stem of the River Allier (France). Using eDNA metabarcoding, we identified 24 fish zero-radius operational taxonomic units (zOTUs), corresponding to 26 species distributed along the main stem of the river. Elevation explained the greatest amount of variation in fish distribution, together with average flow, barrier density and its interaction with cumulative barrier height. Based on eDNA, the largest discontinuity in species richness was not related to the location of Poutès, the largest dam in the system, but located downstream from it. Our results indicate that, in addition to the more obvious effects of large dams on migratory fish such as the Atlantic salmon, the cumulative effects of small barriers can have widespread impacts on fish species richness and relative abundance, which should not be overlooked. We suggest that, as for other fragmented rivers, acting on numerous small barriers might bring about greater benefits in fish species richness than focusing only on the largest dams