Digital Commons Network^™

Injustice Is An Underlying Condition, Yael Cannon

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Race, poverty, and zip code serve as critical determinants of a person's health. Research showed the links between these factors and poor health and mortality before COVID-19, and they have only been amplified during this pandemic.

People of color experience higher rates of asthma, heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. People of color who live in poverty are even more likely to suffer from poor health; they face a “double burden” of health disparities associated with both racial and socioeconomic marginalization. Neighborhoods with concentrated poverty and with residents who are primarily people of color have even faced a life …

Decentralization, Local Government Fiscal Independence, And Poverty: Evidence From Philippine Provinces, Tristan A. Canare

Economics Department Faculty Publications

Decentralization has become a popular development program among middle- and low-income economies worldwide. The rationale behind decentralization is the local government’s proximity to consumers gives it an information advantage over the central government on needs and preferences. However, the central government has economies of scale and has access to more resources. Using data from Philippine provinces, this paper studies the relationship between decentralization – as represented by local government fiscal independence and as measured by locally sourced revenues expressed as share of total revenue – and poverty incidence. It finds evidence that fiscal independence is associated with lower poverty, but …

The Child Care Crisis And Its Impact On Hispanic Families, Katie Bogle, Abby M. Foreman

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

While the child care crisis has touched nearly every corner of America, impacting families of diverse racial, cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, this report will examine its impact on the Hispanic community. With a population of 59.9 million, Hispanics are the largest minority population in the United States and contribute to the rich and diverse fabric of American life. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget defines Hispanic as “a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race.” Hispanic families in the United States, made up of both immigrants and …

For Our Sakes: An Incarnational And Systemic Approach To The Challenge Of Poverty, Alan Parker

Faculty Works

How do Christians face the challenge of poverty? This paper proposes a grace-based approach to poverty. By recognizing our poverty and how God has shown grace to us, we are inspired to care for the poverty of others. The problem of the poor, which includes us, is not material poverty but broken relationships. Solving poverty requires that one enter into the world of the poor person and to see the richness that they have, even in their material poverty. The entire system of broken relationships must be repaired and the goal must be the restoration of shalom. We will therefore …

Tackling Poverty, Mark A. Smith-Micthell

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

For many decades America has been stuck in a loop of having millions of impoverished citizens despite being one of the richest countries in the world. Lack of education, mass incarceration, and failed government policy are just some of the many causes of a very perplexing problem. Poverty is a downward spiral that emphasizes the inconsistencies between government policy and the weakness of the country's economy, which can only begin to be overcome if opportunities to help the less fortunate are developed.

Mental Health And Its Wicked Factors, Michael Schuler

English Department: Research for Change - Wicked Problems in Our World

Mental health has long since been an issue in not just our society, but worldwide. While it is difficult to determine exactly what factors affect mental health, there has been significant research done within the past 30 years to show that major factors that affect mental health can be mitigated. Things such as poverty, physical health, and community outreach can all be linked to mental health issues. There are some solutions that will mitigate these factors that can be explored. These solutions can include things like raising awareness for mental illnesses in order to reduce stigma, getting more mental health …

Laina Y. Bay-Cheng, No Choice But “Yes”: Strategic Consent To Unwanted Sex, Laina Y. Bay-Cheng

Baldy Center Blog

One of the most widely-used comprehensive sex ed curricula in the U.S. is entitled, Making Proud Choices! Echoing this cheerleading (and imploring) sentiment is the sex ed program offered youth in Maryland’s juvenile justice and child welfare systems, Power Through Choices, which includes the lesson, Creating the Future You Want.

Labor Market, Urban Poverty And Propoor Employment Policies, Heba Nassar, Heba El-Laithy

Faculty Journal Articles

A complicated relationship exists between labor market mechanisms and poverty. Poverty might arise from labor market mechanisms, as much as from other more obvious factors such as overall living standards, low levels of production and productivity as well as socioeconomic conditions that lead to inequalities in the labor market. This paper tries to study the relationship between urban poverty and the labor market by constructing a poverty index using the data of the Survey" Socioeconomic conditions of Work in Greater Cairo". Factor analysis was used to combine seventeen socio-economic variables in one poverty index. The index was used to study …

Household Food Insecurity And U.S. Department Of Housing And Urban Development Federal Housing Assistance, Veronica Helms, Alisha Coleman-Jensen, Regina Gray, Debra L. Brucker

Institute on Disability

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides housing rental assistance to more than 4.5 million low-income households. Using health survey data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) linked to Federal housing administrative data, household food insecurity was assessed among adults receiving housing assistance at the time of their NHIS interview during 2011 and 2012 (n=2,089). Food-insecure households had difficulty at times providing adequate food for all their members due to limited resources. Among NHIS adult respondents receiving HUD assistance, 37.2 percent reported household food insecurity (including low and very low food security), while 19.1 percent experienced …

Addressing Neurocognitive Disorders, Dementias, And Alzheimer’S Disease In Colonias Of The Lower Rio Grande Valley: Establishing A Research Foundation Using Promotores, Noe Garza, Marucela Uscamayta-Ayvar, Gladys E. Maestre

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Several Texas communities along the Mexican border, including the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV), are home to low-income Hispanic populations, many of whom live in underserved communities known as colonias. These areas have high incidences of neurocognitive disorders, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease (AD); health care strategies that are culturally and linguistically appropriate for the area are needed. We aim to build capacity to reduce risk, facilitate treatment, and provide caregiver support for affected individuals. However, gaining trust of communities and presenting information about research studies in a way that is culturally appropriate is critical for engagement of underserved communities.

This …

Financial Capability And Asset Building In Social And Economic Development: Advancing The Sustainable Development Goals, David Ansong, Moses Okumu, Jin Huang`, Margaret S. Sherraden, Lissa Johnson, Li Zou

Center for Social Development Research

The concern for economic well-being undergirds most of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This Perspective articulates an agenda for advancing those goals in resource-constrained countries by leveraging financial capability and asset-building (FCAB) strategies. It also specifies a role for financial technology (commonly called “FinTech”) in this work. The authors conclude with a call for better integrating FCAB and FinTech into plans for advancing the SDGs.

Healthy Food Access And Low-Income Teens: A Photovoice Approach, Vicki Simpson, Lindsey Pedigo, Muna Hamdan Rodriguez

School of Nursing Faculty Publications

Lack of access to healthy foods disproportionately impacts adolescents. This mixed-methods study used photovoice to explore everyday lived experiences of food access among teens from low-income families, empowering them to share their stories. Sixty-three diverse teens (12-17 years) from across one Midwest state took images and created narratives to support community presentations. Independent content analysis identified themes. Researchers used t tests to compare pre-post differences (p < 0.05) for two scales related to empowerment and positive youth development. Themes suggest teens take on adult responsibilities relative to food access, generally selecting unhealthy foods. Families and after-school programs were critical to food‐related experiences, with cultural differences noted. A statistically significant increase, t(58) = -2.225, p = .032, was noted for “most community leaders in my city would listen to me.” Findings support the need to address factors contributing to difficulties accessing healthy foods in home and community settings.

Open Data For Algorithms: Mapping Poverty In Belize Using Open Satellite Derived Features And Machine Learning, Jonathan Hersh, Ryan Engstrom, Michael Mann

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

Mapping the spatial distribution of poverty and incomes within a country remains a challenge. Recently, several proposed methods incorporate features from satellite imagery to improve model performance (Babenko et al., 2017, Poverty mapping using convolutional neural networks trained on high and medium resolution satellite images, with an application in Mexico. ArXiv Preprint ArXiv:1711.06323) or supplant small area estimation methods (Jean et al., 2016, Combining satellite imagery and machine learning to predict poverty. Science, 353(6301), 790–94. doi:10.1126/science.aaf7894; Engstrom et al., 2017, Poverty from space: Using high-resolution satellite imagery for estimating economic well-being.). However, these methods require high-spatial resolution imagery …

Social Determinants Of Health-Related Needs During Covid-19 Among Low-Income Households With Children, Shreela V Sharma, Ru-Jye Chuang, Melinda Rushing, Brittni Naylor, Nalini Ranjit, Mike Pomeroy, Christine Markham

Journal Articles

INTRODUCTION: Little is known about the social needs of low-income households with children during the coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Our objective was to conduct a cross-sectional quantitative and qualitative descriptive analysis of a rapid-response survey among low-income households with children on social needs, COVID-19-related concerns, and diet-related behaviors.

METHODS: We distributed an electronic survey in April 2020 to 16,435 families in 4 geographic areas, and 1,048 responded. The survey asked families enrolled in a coordinated school-based nutrition program about their social needs, COVID-19-related concerns, food insecurity, and diet-related behaviors during the pandemic. An open-ended question asked about their greatest concern. We …

Poverty Lawgorithms A Poverty Lawyer’S Guide To Fighting Automated Decision-Making Harms On Low-Income Communities, Michele E. Gilman

All Faculty Scholarship

Automated decision-making systems make decisions about our lives, and those with low-socioeconomic status often bear the brunt of the harms these systems cause. Poverty Lawgorithms: A Poverty Lawyers Guide to Fighting Automated Decision-Making Harms on Low-Income Communities is a guide by Data & Society Faculty Fellow Michele Gilman to familiarize fellow poverty and civil legal services lawyers with the ins and outs of data-centric and automated-decision making systems, so that they can clearly understand the sources of the problems their clients are facing and effectively advocate on their behalf.

The Intertwined Relationship Between Malnutrition And Poverty, Faareha Siddiqui, Rehana Salam, Zohra S. Lassi, Jai K. Das

Woman and Child Health

Despite social and economic development, the burden of malnutrition across the globe remains unacceptably high. A vital relationship exists between nutritional status, human capital, and economic standing. Malnutrition adversely affects the physiological and mental capacity of individuals; which in turn hampers productivity levels, making them and their respective countries more susceptible to poverty. A two-way link exists between malnutrition and poverty, creating a vicious cycle with each fueling the other. Malnutrition produces conditions of poverty by reducing the economic potential of the population and likewise, poverty reinforces malnutrition by increasing the risk of food insecurity. The aim of the paper …

The Stakes Of Girls' Education In Senegal, Ndeye Seck

English Language Institute

No abstract provided.

Social Assistance And Trajectories Of Child Mental Health Problems In Canada: Evidence From The National Longitudinal Survey Of Children And Youth, Jinette Comeau, Laura Duncan, Katholiki Georgiades, Li Wang, Michael H. Boyle

Paediatrics Publications

Objectives: To examine the link between stability and change in social assistance (SA) use and children’s mental health trajectories to better understand whether social policies targeted at low-income families might be an effective population-based mechanism for preventing mental health problems among children at risk. Methods: The National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (N = 8981) is used to classify children into 5 categories based on their family’s pattern of SA use from age 4–5 to 10–11: always or never on SA, a single transition on or off SA, or fluctuations on and off SA. Latent growth modelling is used …

Living Below The Line: Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Economic Security Among Older Americans, 2020, Jan Mutchler, Nidya Velasco Roldán, Yang Li

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

New estimates from the 2019 Elder Index^TM highlight the risk of economic insecurity experienced by older adults, a risk that is especially high for persons of color. The Gerontology Institute compares the household incomes for adults age 65 and above living in one- and two-person households to the 2019 Elder Index for each state and Washington, DC to calculate Elder Economic Insecurity Rates (EEIRs), the percentage of independent older adults age 65 or older living in households with annual incomes that do not support economic security. National averages suggest that among people living alone, 48% of older people who …

An Ontology Of Human Flourishing: Economic Development And Epistemologies Of Faith, Hope, And Love, Jan Van Vliet

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

This chapter demonstrates that the presence of poverty, and its associated pathologies, is of concern to all humankind whose innate desire is to seek the flourishing of fellow humanity. The traditional, often unsuccessful, methods of poverty alleviation have been challenged in creative, bold, and refreshing ways that are superior in both identifying poverty and moving agencies and pathways toward greater success. This involves a technical application of quantitative microeconomics which is paired with expertise and insights on human behavior gleaned from the behavioral sciences. It turns out that human behavior is often better explained by behavioral categories such as hope …

Assessing Community Needs: City Of Toledo And Lucas County, Ohio, Jim Robey, Stephen Biddle, Don Edgerly, Marie Holler, Brian Pittelko, Claudette Robey, Kathleen Bolter, Tom Schorgl

Reports

At the core of issues in Lucas County and, in particular, the City of Toledo is poverty. While this does not necessarily provide an “Aha!” moment, current conditions that contribute to being economically disadvantaged in many areas of the city and county affect not only current residents but will also affect future residents—without meaningful and targeted interventions. It is beyond the scope of the Toledo Community Foundation, or any single institution for that matter, to unilaterally address the range of issues presented in this study. Remedying these issues must be accomplished through the coordination and leveraging of resources, including public, …

A Framework For Understanding Poverty Among Refugees In The United States, Mitra Ahmadinejad

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Through a set of three interconnected studies, this dissertation proposes a multidimensional poverty framework for adult refugees with a focus on their first five years in the United States. In the first study, refugee poverty was quantified using the 2016 Annual Survey of Refugees (ASR) dataset. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to calculate optimal cut-off points for income levels maximizing the sensitivity and specificity of the multidimensional poverty index utilized in the study. Guided by Ager and Strang’s (2008) refugee integration framework and using the 2016 ASR dataset, the second study explored factors associated with poverty. Using three …

A Case Study Evaluating The Effects Of Poverty In Secondary Education, Rachel Jean Smarr

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this collective case study design was to understand how poverty impacts rural secondary education classrooms. Participants were a collection of educators and students that are involved in an impoverished area of West Virginia. The central phenomenon of poverty for educators working in the secondary school at a technical center was addressed. Student issues were also addressed through the circumstances educators face in the classroom. The theory guiding this study was Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which depicts how foundational physical needs must be met in order to excel to higher levels of success. A collective case study was …

Health Insurance Coverage Disruptions And Cancer Care And Outcomes: Systematic Review Of Published Research, K Robin Yabroff, Katherine Reeder-Hayes, Jingxuan Zhao, Michael T Halpern, Ana Maria Lopez, Leon Bernal-Mizrachi, Anderson B Collier, Joan Neuner, Jonathan Phillips, William Blackstock, Manali Patel

Kimmel Cancer Center Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Lack of health insurance coverage is associated with poor access and receipt of cancer care and survival in the United States. Disruptions in coverage are common among low-income populations, but little is known about associations of disruptions with cancer care, including prevention, screening, and treatment, as well as outcomes of stage at diagnosis and survival.

METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of studies of health insurance coverage disruptions and cancer care and outcomes published between 1980 and 2019. We used the PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, and CINAHL databases and identified 29 observational studies. Study characteristics and key findings were abstracted …

Is Predicted Data A Viable Alternative To Real Data?, Tomoki Fujii, Roy Van Der Weide

Research Collection School Of Economics

It is costly to collect the household- and individual-level data that underlies official estimates of poverty and health. For this reason, developing countries often do not have the budget to update their estimates of poverty and health regularly, even though these estimates are most needed there. One way to reduce the financial burden is to substitute some of the real data with predicted data. An approach referred to as double sampling collects the expensive outcome variable for a sub-sample only while collecting the covariates used for prediction for the full sample. The objective of this study is to determine if …

Community-Engaged Development Of A Parent-Child Book Reading Wise Intervention, Po-Hun Chou

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Children living in communities with high rates of poverty experience significant detriment to their academic skills and social, emotional, and behavioral health. Though a range of evidence-based interventions exist that aim to reduce these disparities, they face substantial barriers (e.g., related to financial and human resources, opportunity cost to target families, variable fit across the diverse populations in low-income households). In contrast, wise interventions use psychologically precise pathways to produce small, recursive changes that result in significant benefits. As such, they represent a resource efficient strategy with the potential for considerable impact with contextual adaptation. The current study utilized social …

Law School News: Distinguished Service Professor: Deborah Gonzalez 05-20-2020, Michael M. Bowden

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Textures Of The Ordinary: Doing Anthropology After Wittgenstein [Table Of Contents], Veena Das

Philosophy & Theory

Textures of the Ordinary: Doing Anthropology After Wittgenstein is an exploration of everyday life in which anthropology finds a companionship with philosophy. Based on two decades of ethnographic work among low-income urban families in India, Das shows how the notion of texture allows her to align her ethnography with stunning anthropological moments in Wittgenstein and Cavell as well as in literary texts from India. Das poses a compelling question – how might we speak of a human form of life when the very idea of the human has been put into question? The response to this question, Das argues, does …

What Drives Commercial Poaching?: From Poverty To Economic Inequality, Elizabeth Lunstrum, Nícia Givá

Global Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Over the last decade, South Africa and its iconic Kruger National Park have experienced a steep increase in the killing of rhinoceros for its horn, which is reaching staggering prices largely in Asian markets. This is a key piece of the larger illegal wildlife trade (IWT). Drawing on fieldwork in the Mozambican borderlands adjacent to Kruger where many poaching recruits originate, we respond to calls for better understanding of the drivers of IWT and in particular links between poverty and poaching. Our analysis shows that economic factors including poverty are the most central drivers of rhino poaching on the ground-level …

Community Psychology's Impact On Public Health And The Experience Of Marginalization, Katie Hudick

Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics

Vulnerable and marginalized populations face a series of risks and dangers throughout their daily lives. This is not simply limited to explicit forms of discrimination and hatred, but systemic forms of oppression and discrimination which limit those not belonging to more privileged and affluent socioeconomic or sociocultural groups. Community psychology operates as a means of analyzing how environmental and social factors impact specific demographic groups within a larger population and by extension the experience of mental health specific to these groups (Townley, Brown, & Sylvestre, 2018). In the application of this field, it is critical to understand the dynamics of …