Homeownership Across the American Life Course: Estimating the Racial Divide

Homeownership has historically been viewed as a fundamental piece of the American Dream, with up to 70 percent of households owning their home as of 2006. Yet it has also been demonstrated that nonwhites are less likely to own a home and that the value of their homes is much less than that for whites, even when social class is taken into account. This paper explores the overall life course patterns of homeownership and the importance of racial differences in understanding those dynamics. Based upon a life table methodology, we examine the homeownership patterns for individuals between the ages of 25 to 55 using 36 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Our findings indicate that although the vast majority of nonwhites will eventually become homeowners, there is nevertheless a significant racial divide in the patterns of homeownership. Nonwhites are less likely than whites to become homeowners, are more likely to purchase their first home at a later age, are less likely to have acquired as much equity in their home, and are less likely to own their home outright. The implications of these findings are discussed within the overall context of racial stratification in America

Estimating the Life Course Dynamics of Asset Poverty

Poverty can be conceptualized and measured in several different ways. The most common approach has been to rely on a scarcity of income as the basis for poverty. This paper analyzes poverty using a relatively new and alternative measuring stick—that of asset poverty. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we examine the extent to which individuals have enough assets to allow them to live for three months above the official poverty line. Households that fail to have the necessary amount of assets are considered asset poor. Three different measures of counting assets are used in this paper—net worth; financial wealth; and liquid wealth. We construct a series of life tables that allow us to examine the period, cohort, and age patterns of asset poverty from 1984 to 2004. Our results indicate that asset poverty is widespread across the life course. The vast majority of those in early adulthood will experience asset poverty in terms of their net worth, financial wealth, and liquid wealth. For those in the middle and later stages of the life course, there remains a substantial risk of encountering financial wealth and liquid wealth asset poverty. In addition, individuals who have less education, are not married, are black, and who do not own a home, are all significantly more likely to experience asset poverty. The policy implications of these findings are discussed

American Poverty as a Structural Failing: Evidence and Arguments

Empirical research on American poverty has largely focused on individual characteristicst o explain the occurrence and patternso f poverty. The argument in this article is that such an emphasis is misplaced. By focusing upon individual attributes as the cause of poverty, social scientists have largely missed the underlying dynamic of American impoverishment. Poverty researchers have in effect focused on who loses out at the economic game, rather than addressing the fact that the game produces losers in the first place. We provide three lines of evidence to suggest that U.S. poverty is ultimately the result of structural failings at the economic, political, and social levels. These include an analysis into the lack of sufficient jobs in the economy to raise families out of poverty or near poverty; a comparative examination into the high rates of U.S. poverty as a result of the ineffectiveness of the social safety net; and the systemic nature of poverty as indicated by the life course risk of impoverishment experienced by a majority of Americans. We then briefly outline a framework for reinterpreting American poverty. This perspective incorporates the prior research findings that have focused on individual characteristics as important factors in who loses out at the economic game, with the structural nature of American poverty that ensures the existence of economic losers in the first place

Infants with esophageal atresia and right aortic arch: Characteristics and outcomes from the Midwest Pediatric Surgery Consortium

Purpose Right sided aortic arch (RAA) is a rare anatomic finding in infants with esophageal atresia with or without tracheoesophageal fistula (EA/TEF). In the presence of RAA, significant controversy exists regarding optimal side for thoracotomy in repair of the EA/TEF. The purpose of this study was to characterize the incidence, demographics, surgical approach, and outcomes of patients with RAA and EA/TEF. Methods A multi-institutional, IRB approved, retrospective cohort study of infants with EA/TEF treated at 11 children's hospitals in the United States over a 5-year period (2009 to 2014) was performed. All patients had a minimum of one-year follow-up. Results In a cohort of 396 infants with esophageal atresia, 20 (5%) had RAA, with 18 having EA with a distal TEF and 2 with pure EA. Compared to infants with left sided arch (LAA), RAA infants had a lower median birth weight, (1.96 kg (IQR 1.54–2.65) vs. 2.57 kg (2.00–3.03), p = 0.01), earlier gestational age (34.5 weeks (IQR 32–37) vs. 37 weeks (35–39), p = 0.01), and a higher incidence of congenital heart disease (90% vs. 32%, p  0.29). Conclusion RAA in infants with EA/TEF is rare with an incidence of 5%. Compared to infants with EA/TEF and LAA, infants with EA/TEF and RAA are more severely ill with lower birth weight and higher rates of prematurity and complex congenital heart disease. In neonates with RAA, surgical repair of the EA/TEF is technically feasible via thoracotomy from either chest. A higher incidence of anastomotic strictures may occur with a right-sided approach

Changing the Paradigm for Management of Pediatric Primary Spontaneous Pneumothorax: A Simple Aspiration Test Predicts Need for Operation

Purpose Chest tube (CT) management for pediatric primary spontaneous pneumothorax (PSP) is associated with long hospital stays and high recurrence rates. To streamline management, we explored simple aspiration as a test to predict need for surgery. Methods A multi-institution, prospective pilot study of patients with first presentation for PSP at 9 children’s hospitals was performed. Aspiration was performed through a pigtail catheter, followed by 6 h observation with CT clamped. If pneumothorax recurred during observation, the aspiration test failed and subsequent management was per surgeon discretion. Results Thirty-three patients were managed with simple aspiration. Aspiration was successful in 16 of 33 (48%), while 17 (52%) failed the aspiration test and required hospitalization. Twelve who failed aspiration underwent CT management, of which 10 (83%) failed CT management owing to either persistent air leak requiring VATS or subsequent PSP recurrence. Recurrence rate was significantly greater in the group that failed aspiration compared to the group that passed aspiration [10/12 (83%) vs 7/16 (44%), respectively, P = 0.028]. Conclusion Simple aspiration test upon presentation with PSP predicts chest tube failure with 83% positive predictive value. We recommend changing the PSP management algorithm to include an initial simple aspiration test, and if that fails, proceed directly to VATS

Retirees as a Growth Industry

The aging of America means business opportunities for communities to expand their jobs base and serve their older citizens better. Most retirees have sufficient incomes which they prefer to spend in their own communities. The authors present some general suggestions as well as specific examples of what communities are doing to tap this source of local income

The life course dynamics of affluence.

Social science research finds that the only group to have experienced real economic gains over the past four decades is the top 20 percent of the income distribution. This finding, along with greater awareness of growing inequality, has renewed interest in mobility research that identifies how individuals and their progeny move into and out of upper versus lower income categories. In this study a new mobility methodology is proposed using life course concepts and life table statistical techniques. Panel data from a prospective national sample of the U.S. population age 25 to 60 are analyzed to estimate the extent of mobility associated with top percentiles in the income distribution. Empirical results suggest high mobility associated with top-level income. For example, 11 percent of the population is found to occupy the top one percentile for one or more years between the ages of 25 and 60. The study findings suggest that many experience short-term and/or intermittent mobility into top-level income, versus a smaller set that persist within top-level income over many consecutive years. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of inequality buffering, opportunity versus insecurity, and the demographics of income inequality

Urban Influences on Farmland Use in New York State

WP 1993-12 August 199

The Likelihood of Experiencing Relative Poverty over the Life Course.

Research on poverty in the United States has largely consisted of examining cross-sectional levels of absolute poverty. In this analysis, we focus on understanding relative poverty within a life course context. Specifically, we analyze the likelihood of individuals falling below the 20th percentile and the 10th percentile of the income distribution between the ages of 25 and 60. A series of life tables are constructed using the nationally representative Panel Study of Income Dynamics data set. This includes panel data from 1968 through 2011. Results indicate that the prevalence of relative poverty is quite high. Consequently, between the ages of 25 to 60, 61.8 percent of the population will experience a year below the 20th percentile, and 42.1 percent will experience a year below the 10th percentile. Characteristics associated with experiencing these levels of poverty include those who are younger, nonwhite, female, not married, with 12 years or less of education, or who have a work disability