Health inequality and population variation in fertility-timing.
We estimate the impact of fertility-timing on the chances that children in poor urban African American communities will have surviving and able-bodied parents until maturity. To do so, we use census and vital statistics data to compute age- and sex-specific rates of mortality and functional limitation among prime-aged adult residents of impoverished African American areas in Harlem, Detroit, Chicago, and the Watts area of Los Angeles and for blacks and whites nationwide. Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the early fertility-timing characteristic of poor urban African American populations mitigates some of the costs to families associated with excess mortality and early health deterioration in young through middle adulthood.
Geronimus
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Department of Health Behavior and Health Education and Faculty Research Associate, Population Studies Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-2029, USA. arline@umich.edu
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Waidmann
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005190:Family / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008428:Maternal Mortality; D008875:Middle Aged; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D012042:Registries; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*