LATER-LIFE LIVING ARRANGEMENTS OF CHILDLESS AMERICANS: A LIFETABLE APPROACH

Abstract The large body of research on living arrangements at older ages pays little attention to the growing population of childless men and women. We begin to fill this gap by using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) over a period of 14 years (2000-2014) to describe the number of years between ages 65-90 that childless Americans live in four different living arrangements: alone, with spouse, with others, and in a nursing home. Because the number of childless HRS respondents is not large (n = 835 in 2000), we first estimate sex-specific single decrement life tables by race/ethnicity and by educational attainment. We then use Sullivan’s method to calculate living arrangement-specific life expectancy for each group, thus providing a comprehensive descriptive portrait of sociodemographic differences in living arrangements across older ages for childless Americans. Preliminary results show that differences in living arrangement-specific life expectancy by race/ethnicity and educational attainment primarily reflect group differences in mortality. The proportion of later life spent in different living arrangements is generally similar across racial/ethnic groups and education levels. This stands in contrast to large racial/ethnic and educational differences documented in earlier studies of older Americans with at least one living child. Results also show that the proportion (and years) of later life spent living alone is substantial, especially for women (over 50%). We discuss the potential implications of these findings with reference to both projected trends in the childless population and research on associations between living arrangements and health of childless older Americans.

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A New Look at the Living Arrangements of Older Americans Using Multistate Life Tables

The Journals of Gerontology Series B ◽

10.1093/geronb/gby099 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 74 (7) ◽

pp. e84-e96 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

James M Raymo ◽

Isabel Pike ◽

Jersey Liang

Keyword(s):

Life Expectancy ◽

Educational Attainment ◽

Living Arrangements ◽

Living Arrangement ◽

Later Life ◽

The United States ◽

Life Tables ◽

Older Americans ◽

Multistate Life Tables ◽

Race Ethnicity

Abstract Objectives We extend existing research on the living arrangements of older Americans by focusing on geographic proximity to children, examining transitions in living arrangements across older ages, and describing differences by both race/ethnicity and educational attainment. Method We use data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) over a period of 10 years (2000–2010) to construct multistate life tables. These analyses allow us to describe the lives of older Americans between ages 65 and 90 in terms of the number of expected years of life in different living arrangements, reflecting both mortality and living arrangement transitions. Results Americans spend a substantial proportion of later life living near, but not with, adult children. There is a good deal of change in living arrangements at older ages and living arrangement-specific life expectancy differs markedly by race/ethnicity and educational attainment. However, overall life expectancy is not strongly related to living arrangements at age 65. Discussion Multistate life tables, constructed separately by sex, race/ethnicity, and educational attainment, provide a comprehensive description of sociodemographic differences in living arrangements across older ages in the United States. We discuss the potential implications of these differences for access to support and the exacerbation or mitigation of inequalities at older ages.

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Racial and Ethnic Disparities in School Discipline: The Interactive Effects of Gender and Parental Educational Attainment

Crime & Delinquency ◽

10.1177/00111287211029879 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 001112872110298

Author(s):

Peter S. Lehmann ◽

Andia M. Azimi ◽

Kiarra Fortney ◽

Kayla Alaniz

Keyword(s):

Educational Attainment ◽

Minority Students ◽

Ethnic Disparities ◽

Interactive Effects ◽

Office Referrals ◽

Race Ethnicity ◽

Monitoring The Future ◽

Using Data ◽

Parental Educational Attainment ◽

Racial Ethnic

Prior research has provided consistent evidence that minority students are more likely than White youth to experience punitive forms of discipline in schools. Scholars have theorized that these disadvantages are closely connected to gender and socioeconomic status, but little research has explored how these factors independently and jointly might moderate the effects of race/ethnicity. Using data from the 2012 to 2018 8th and 10th grade cohorts of the Monitoring the Future survey ( N = 53,986), these analyses find that minority students are more likely than Whites to experience suspension/expulsion and office referrals, and this pattern is especially prominent among females. Further, racial/ethnic disparities are amplified for youth whose parents have higher levels of educational attainment, though some differences by gender also emerge.

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Race, Ethnicity, Crime Type, and the Sentencing of Violent Felony Offenders

Crime & Delinquency ◽

10.1177/0011128720902699 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 66 (6-7) ◽

pp. 770-805 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Peter S. Lehmann

Keyword(s):

Large Body ◽

Ethnic Disparities ◽

Moderating Effects ◽

Felony Offenders ◽

White Offenders ◽

Race Ethnicity ◽

Using Data ◽

Sexual Battery ◽

Case Characteristics ◽

Racial Ethnic

Within the large body of literature on racial/ethnic disparities in criminal sentencing, some research has demonstrated that these relationships are conditional upon various legally relevant case characteristics, including the type of offense for which the defendants are sentenced. To date, however, few studies have explored the potential moderating effects of different violent crimes. Using data from Florida ( N = 186,885), the findings from these analyses indicate that Black–White sentencing disparities are particularly pronounced for manslaughter, robbery/carjacking, arson, and resisting arrest with violence. While Hispanic ethnicity exerts limited effects on sentencing outcomes generally, Hispanics are particularly disadvantaged in manslaughter cases. Relative to minority defendants, White offenders receive harsher sentences for sexual battery, other sex offenses, and abuse of children.

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Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Years of Potential Life Lost Attributable to COVID-19 in the United States: An Analysis of 45 States and the District of Columbia

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18062921 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (6) ◽

pp. 2921

Author(s):

Jay J. Xu ◽

Jarvis T. Chen ◽

Thomas R. Belin ◽

Ronald S. Brookmeyer ◽

Marc A. Suchard ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

District Of Columbia ◽

Ethnic Disparities ◽

The United States ◽

Attributable Mortality ◽

Race Ethnicity ◽

Using Data ◽

Rate Ratios ◽

Degree Of Association ◽

Racial Ethnic

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic in the United States has disproportionately impacted communities of color across the country. Focusing on COVID-19-attributable mortality, we expand upon a national comparative analysis of years of potential life lost (YPLL) attributable to COVID-19 by race/ethnicity (Bassett et al., 2020), estimating percentages of total YPLL for non-Hispanic Whites, non-Hispanic Blacks, Hispanics, non-Hispanic Asians, and non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Natives, contrasting them with their respective percent population shares, as well as age-adjusted YPLL rate ratios—anchoring comparisons to non-Hispanic Whites—in each of 45 states and the District of Columbia using data from the National Center for Health Statistics as of 30 December 2020. Using a novel Monte Carlo simulation procedure to perform estimation, our results reveal substantial racial/ethnic disparities in COVID-19-attributable YPLL across states, with a prevailing pattern of non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanics experiencing disproportionately high and non-Hispanic Whites experiencing disproportionately low COVID-19-attributable YPLL. Furthermore, estimated disparities are generally more pronounced when measuring mortality in terms of YPLL compared to death counts, reflecting the greater intensity of the disparities at younger ages. We also find substantial state-to-state variability in the magnitudes of the estimated racial/ethnic disparities, suggesting that they are driven in large part by social determinants of health whose degree of association with race/ethnicity varies by state.

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Educational Differences in Self-Rated Health Trends Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults Living Alone, 1972–2018

Journal of Aging and Health ◽

10.1177/08982643211052718 ◽

2022 ◽

pp. 089826432110527

Author(s):

Esther O. Lamidi

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Living Arrangements ◽

Living Arrangement ◽

Living Alone ◽

Middle Aged ◽

Older Americans ◽

Health Trends ◽

Self Rated Health ◽

Educational Differences ◽

Middle Aged Adults

Objectives: This study examines educational differences in living alone and in self-rated health trends among middle-aged and older adults. Methods: We used logistic regression to analyze data from the 1972–2018 National Health Interview Survey ( n = 795,239 aged 40–64; n = 357,974 aged 65–84). Results: Between 1972–1974 and 2015–2018, living alone became more prevalent, particularly among men and at lower levels of education. Self-rated health trends varied by living arrangement and education. We found self-rated health declines among middle-aged adults having no college degree and living alone, but trends in self-rated health were mostly stable or even improved among middle-aged adults living with others. Among older adults, self-rated health improved over time, but for the least-educated older Americans living alone, the probability of reporting fair or poor health increased between 1972–1974 and 2015–2018. Discussion: The findings suggest growing disparities by social class, in living arrangements and in self-rated health.

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A Life Course Approach to Inequality: Examining Racial/Ethnic Differences in the Relationship between Early Life Socioeconomic Conditions and Health in Later Life Among Men

Ethnicity & Disease ◽

10.18865/ed.25.3.313 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 25 (3) ◽

pp. 313 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Taylor W. Hargrove, MA ◽

Tyson H. Brown, PhD

Keyword(s):

Life Course ◽

Mexican American ◽

White Men ◽

Later Life ◽

Adult Health ◽

Socioeconomic Conditions ◽

Growth Curve Models ◽

Life Course Approach ◽

Race Ethnicity ◽

Racial Ethnic

Objective: Previous research has documented a relationship between childhood socioeconomic conditions and adult health, but less is known about racial/ethnic differences in this relationship, particularly among men. This study utilizes a life course approach to investigate racial/ethnic differences in the relationships among early and later life socioeconomic circumstances and health in adulthood among men.Design: Panel data from the Health and Retirement Study and growth curve models are used to examine group differences in the relationships among childhood and adult socioeconomic factors and age-trajectories of self-rated health among White, Black and Mexican American men aged 51-77 years (N=4147).Results: Multiple measures of childhood socioeconomic status (SES) predict health in adulthood for White men, while significantly fewer measures of childhood SES predict health for Black and Mexican American men. Moreover, the health consequences of childhood SES diminish with age for Black and Mexican American men. The childhood SES-adult health relationship is largely explained by measures of adult SES for White men.Conclusion: The life course pathways linking childhood SES and adult health differ by race/ethnicity among men. Similar to arguments that the universality of the adult SES-health relationship should not be assumed, results from our study suggest that scholars should not assume that the significance and nature of the association between childhood SES and health in adulthood is similar across race/ethnicity among men. Ethn Dis.2015;25(3):313-320.

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SOCIAL STRATIFICATION AND TRAJECTORIES OF LIVING ARRANGEMENTS AMONG OLDER AMERICANS

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igz038.1038 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S281-S281

Author(s):

Jersey Liang ◽

BoRin Kim ◽

Xiao Xu ◽

James Raymo ◽

Mary Beth Ofstedal ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Old Age ◽

Social Stratification ◽

Living Arrangements ◽

Well Being ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Term Care ◽

Older Americans ◽

Rate Of Increase ◽

Race Ethnicity ◽

Young Old

Abstract Living arrangements are critical to intra-family exchanges that affect older persons’ health and well-being. The conventional conceptualization of living arrangements has emphasized coresidence with children, while overlooking proximate residence from children. Additionally, existing research often relied on cross-sectional data which confound intrapersonal differences with interpersonal variations. This study examined the dynamics of living arrangements in old age by depicting their trajectories as a function of social stratification (i.e., age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, income, and wealth). Data came from the Health and Retirement Study and included a national sample of 7,822 older Americans with at least one living child from 1998 to 2014. Multi-level mixed effects models were employed to analyze the trajectories of living arrangements and their key determinants for the young-old and the old-old separately. Among the young-old (age 65-74, N=4,917), the probability of coresidence increased slightly over time, whereas the probabilities of proximate residence and distant residence decreased slightly and remained stable respectively, and the risk for institutionalization increased moderately. Similar but more accelerated trajectories were observed among the old-old (age 75+, N=2,905). Age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, income, and asset were significantly associated with not only the levels of the probabilities of various living arrangements but also their slopes. For instance, among the old-old, Hispanics had a lower level of nursing home residence as well as a slower rate of increase in the risk of institutionalization than Whites. These findings may inform public policies to strengthen family-based support and long-term care for older people.

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Racial Differences in Multigenerational Living Arrangements in 1910

Social Science History ◽

10.1017/s014555320001155x ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 35 (3) ◽

pp. 275-322 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Cheryl Elman ◽

Andrew S. London

Keyword(s):

African Americans ◽

Life Course ◽

Racial Differences ◽

Living Arrangements ◽

Living Arrangement ◽

Future Research ◽

European Americans ◽

Kin Support ◽

Using Data ◽

The Life Course

We explore racial differences in multigenerational living arrangements in 1910, focusing on trigenerational kin structures. Coresidence across generations represents a public function of the family, and we observe this across different ages or life-course stages through which adults came to be at risk for providing simultaneous household support for multiple generations of kin dependents. Using data from the 1.4 percent 1910 Integrated Public Use Microdata Sample, our comparisons adjust for marital turnover, including widow(er)hood/divorce and remarriage, as rates are known to be historically higher among African Americans in this period. Across subgroups defined by age and sex, we find that African Americans are virtually always as likely as or more likely than European Americans (of both native and foreign parentage) to live as grandparents in trigenerational households. Widow(er)hood/divorce generally increased the likelihood of trigenerational coresidence, while remarriage sometimes increased, sometimes decreased, and sometimes had no association with this living arrangement. Also, we find that the life-course staging of household kin support in 1910 differed across race/generation partly due to different economic and demographic circumstances, suggesting more complexity in kin support than previously considered. We discuss these findings in relation to the histories of African American and European American families as well as their implications for future research.

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Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Years of Potential Life Lost Attributable to COVID-19 in the United States: An Analysis of 45 States and the District of Columbia

10.1101/2021.01.28.21249411 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jay J. Xu ◽

Jarvis T. Chen ◽

Thomas R. Belin ◽

Ronald S. Brookmeyer ◽

Marc A. Suchard ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

District Of Columbia ◽

Ethnic Disparities ◽

The United States ◽

Attributable Mortality ◽

Estimation Uncertainty ◽

Race Ethnicity ◽

Using Data ◽

Rate Ratios ◽

Racial Ethnic

AbstractThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic in the United States has disproportionately impacted communities of color across the country. Focusing on COVID-19-attributable mortality, we expand upon a national comparative analysis of years of potential life lost (YPLL) attributable to COVID-19 by race/ethnicity (Bassett et al., 2020), estimating percentages of total YPLL for non-Hispanic Whites, non-Hispanic Blacks, Hispanics, non-Hispanic Asians, and non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Natives, contrasting them with their respective percent population shares, as well as age-adjusted YPLL rate ratios – anchoring comparisons to non-Hispanic Whites – in each of 45 states and the District of Columbia using data from the National Center for Health Statistics as of December 30, 2020. Using a novel Monte Carlo simulation procedure to quantify estimation uncertainty, our results reveal substantial racial/ethnic disparities in COVID-19-attributable YPLL across states, with a prevailing pattern of non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanics experiencing disproportionately high and non-Hispanic Whites experiencing disproportionately low COVID-19-attributable YPLL. Furthermore, observed disparities are generally more pronounced when measuring mortality in terms of YPLL compared to death counts, reflecting the greater intensity of the disparities at younger ages. We also find substantial state-to-state variability in the magnitudes of the estimated racial/ethnic disparities, suggesting that they are driven in large part by social determinants of health whose degree of association with race/ethnicity varies by state.

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Contextualizing Educational Disparities in Health: Variations by Race/Ethnicity, Nativity, and County-Level Characteristics

Demography ◽

10.1215/00703370-9664206 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Taylor W. Hargrove ◽

Lauren Gaydosh ◽

Alexis C. Dennis

Keyword(s):

Young Adults ◽

Early Life ◽

Social Characteristics ◽

Adult Health ◽

Educational Disparities ◽

Education And Health ◽

Race Ethnicity ◽

Using Data ◽

Almost All ◽

Racial Ethnic

Abstract Educational disparities in health are well documented, yet the education–health relationship is inconsistent across racial/ethnic and nativity groups. These inconsistencies may arise from characteristics of the early life environments in which individuals attain their education. We evaluate this possibility by investigating (1) whether educational disparities in cardiometabolic risk vary by race/ethnicity and nativity among Black, Hispanic, and White young adults; (2) the extent to which racial/ethnic-nativity differences in the education–health relationship are contingent on economic, policy, and social characteristics of counties of early life residence; and (3) the county characteristics associated with the best health at higher levels of education for each racial/ethnic-nativity group. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we find that Black young adults who achieve high levels of education exhibit worse health across a majority of contexts relative to their White and Hispanic counterparts. Additionally, we observe more favorable health at higher levels of education across almost all contexts for White individuals. For all other racial/ethnic-nativity groups, the relationship between education and health depends on the characteristics of the early life counties of residence. Findings highlight place-based factors that may contribute to the development of racial/ethnic and nativity differences in the education–health relationship among U.S. young adults.

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