A Penny Saved Is Mobility Earned

Analyzes data on how one's or one's parents' level of savings affects economic mobility, by income; examines savings incentives and disincentives in the federal tax code and public assistance programs; and recommends policy options to encourage savings

Is Any Job Better than No Job? Labor Market Experiences and Depressive Symptoms in People Living with HIV

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between the psychosocial work environment and labor market experiences (including unemployment) on mental health among adults living with HIV. We used data provided by 538 participants at clinical and community sites across Ontario, Canada. Generalized estimating equation models showed that employment was associated with lower depressive symptoms. For employed participants, adverse psychosocial work conditions, specifically job insecurity, psychological demands, and decision authority were associated with depressive symptoms. For the entire sample, the number of adverse psychosocial work conditions was associated with higher depressive symptoms while participants working in poor quality jobs reported similar levels of depressive symptoms than those who were unemployed or not in the labor force. This study showed that poor quality employment (as assessed by having a high number of adverse psychosocial work exposures) was associated with a similar level of depressive symptoms as unemployment, suggesting that “bad jobs” may not offer the same mental health benefits as “good jobs.” Policies to improve employment outcomes should take the quality of employment into account to maximize mental health benefits as better employment may lead to better mental health

WI19-01: Economic Opportunity and Labor Force Participation

Economic Opportunity and Labor Force ParticipationBoth self-reported disability and receipt of federal disability assistance (SSI and SSDI) vary substantially across U.S. counties. This project examines whether and to what extent spatial variation in economic opportunity—operationalized using place-based estimates of intergenerational economic mobility for a recent cohort—can help us account for variation in disability across counties and within counties over time. Specifically, this project examines three key research questions: 1. Is there an association between local area economic opportunity and labor force participation? 2. Is there an association between local area economic opportunity, self-reported disability status, and receipt of federal disability assistance (SSI and SSDI)? 3. Does local area economic opportunity moderate the relationship between labor demand, self-reported disability status, and receipt of SSI/SSDI? We find that areas characterized by low economic opportunity have higher rates of self-reported disability and disability assistance receipt, net of local area sociodemographic and economic characteristics. We also find evidence that economic opportunity moderates the relationship between business cycle dynamics and disability; following an increase in unemployment, self-reported disability rates and receipt of SSDI increase more in low-opportunity areas than in high-opportunity areas. These findings have implications for projecting future demand for disability assistance across counties in response to business cycle dynamics and may be instructive for efforts to detail the pathways linking labor demand, labor force participation, and demand for disability assistanceCenter for Financial Security, Retirement & Disability Consortium, U.S. Social Security Administration

Declining Economic Opportunity, Rising Overdose Rates, & DI Receipt

This study investigates the role of fading economic opportunity in two significant trends faced by working-age adults in the United States: worsening mortality rates (particularly from drug overdoses) and rising rates of application to SSDI and SSI programs.Recent work has demonstrated rising drug overdose mortality following industrial decline due to exposure to foreign trade. Despite experiencing similar declines in manufacturing-sector opportunities, some areas of the United States have fared better than others with regards to both opioid overdose mortality and shares of workers claiming disability. This project aims to examine whether the relationship between declining economic opportunities in the manufacturing sector between 1999-2016 and both opioid overdose mortality and rising application and receipt of disability benefits varied across different local areas. We also aim to identify underlying socioeconomic, health sector, and policy factors that drive the different responses to economic decline. Specifically, the project will answer the following questions: Do areas vary in the extent to which opioid overdose mortality and disability benefit application and receipt rates rise as a consequence of manufacturing industry decline? Which socioeconomic and policy factors explain why opioid overdose mortality and SSI/SSDI application and receipt rise in some areas more than others following a similar decline in manufacturing employment opportunities? Answers to these questions have implications for the design and implementation of policies to alleviate worsening population health and disability in areas experiencing economic changes.Center for Financial Security, Retirement and Disability Research Consortium, U.S. Social Security Administration

Replication data for: "Does Knowing your FICO Score Change Financial Behavior?"

Review of Economics and Statistics: Forthcomin

Economic influences on population health in the United States: Toward policymaking driven by data and evidence.

Atheendar S. Venkataramani and colleagues discuss economic factors and population health in the United States

Laser ablation electrospray ionization high-resolution mass spectrometry for regulatory screening of domoic acid in shellfish

Rationale: Domoic acid (DA) is a potent neurotoxin that accumulates in shellfish. Routine testing involves homogenization, extraction and chromatographic analysis, with a run time of up to 30 min. Improving throughput using ambient ionization for direct analysis of DA in tissue would result in significant time savings for regulatory testing labs. Methods: We assess the suitability of laser ablation electrospray ionization high-resolution mass spectrometry (LAESI-HRMS) for high-throughput screening or quantitation of DA in a variety of shellfish matrices. The method was first optimized for use with HRMS detection. Challenges such as tissue sub-sampling, isobaric interferences and method calibration were considered and practical solutions developed. Samples included 189 real shellfish samples previously analyzed by regulatory labs as well as mussel matrix certified reference materials. Results: Domoic acid was selectively analyzed directly from shellfish tissue homogenates with a run time of 12 s. The limits of detection were between 0.24 and 1.6 mg DA kg 121 tissue, similar to those of LC/UV methods. The precision was between 27 and 44% relative standard deviation (RSD), making the technique more suited to screening than direct quantitation. LAESI-MS showed good agreement with LC/UV and LC/MS and was capable of identifying samples above and below 5 mg DA kg 121 wet shellfish tissue, one quarter of the regulatory limit. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate the suitability of LAESI-MS for routine, high-throughput screening of DA. This approach could result in significant time savings for regulatory labs carrying out shellfish safety testing on thousands of samples annually.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

College affirmative action bans and smoking and alcohol use among underrepresented minority adolescents in the United States: A difference-in-differences study.

BackgroundCollege affirmative action programs seek to expand socioeconomic opportunities for underrepresented minorities. Between 1996 and 2013, 9 US states-including California, Texas, and Michigan-banned race-based affirmative action in college admissions. Because economic opportunity is known to motivate health behavior, banning affirmative action policies may have important adverse spillover effects on health risk behaviors. We used a quasi-experimental research design to evaluate the association between college affirmative action bans and health risk behaviors among underrepresented minority (Black, Hispanic, and Native American) adolescents.Methods and findingsWe conducted a difference-in-differences analysis using data from the 1991-2015 US national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). We compared changes in self-reported cigarette smoking and alcohol use in the 30 days prior to survey among underrepresented minority 11th and 12th graders in states implementing college affirmative action bans (Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Texas, and Washington) versus outcomes among those residing in states not implementing bans (n = 35 control states). We also assessed whether underrepresented minority adults surveyed in the 1992-2015 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (TUS-CPS) who were exposed to affirmative action bans during their late high school years continued to smoke cigarettes between the ages of 19 and 30 years. Models adjusted for individual demographic characteristics, state and year fixed effects, and state-specific secular trends. In the YRBS (n = 34,988 to 36,268, depending on the outcome), cigarette smoking in the past 30 days among underrepresented minority 11th-12th graders increased by 3.8 percentage points after exposure to an affirmative action ban (95% CI: 2.0, 5.7; p ConclusionsIn this study, we found evidence that some health risk behaviors increased among underrepresented minority adolescents after exposure to state-level college affirmative action bans. These findings suggest that social policies that shift socioeconomic opportunities could have meaningful population health consequences