Susan L. Averett

Black-white differences in social and economic consequences of obesity

OBJECTIVE:To investigate social and economic effects of obesity for black and white females, and to explore possible explanations for race differences in obesity effects.SUBJECTS:1354 non-Hispanic black and 3097 non-Hispanic, non-black, women aged 25–33 y in 1990 from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979–1990.MEASUREMENTS:Body mass index (BMI) evaluated at age 17–24 y (1982) and 25–33 y (1990).METHODS:Logistic and linear regression of six labour market and marriage outcomes on early or attained BMI. Detailed controls for family socioeconomic background.RESULTS: Socioeconomic effects of obesity appear larger for whites than blacks. Obesity is associated with low self-esteem among whites, but not blacks. Differences in self-esteem do not account for race differences in the effects of obesity on socioeconomic status. Lower probability of marriage and lower earnings of husbands among those who marry account for the majority of the income differences between obese white women and those of recommended weight. Occupational differences account for more than one fifth of the effect of obesity on the hourly wages of both white and black women.CONCLUSION:Cultural differences may protect black women from the self-esteem loss associated with obesity for whites. However, differences in self-esteem do not account for the effects of obesity on socioeconomic status. Because the effect of obesity on the economic status of white women works primarily through marriage, it may therefore be less amenable to policy intervention to improve the labor market prospects of obese women.

For better or worse: Relationship status and body mass index

Recent increases in the incidence of obesity and declines in marriage have prompted policymakers to implement policies to mitigate these trends. This paper examines the link between these two outcomes. There are four hypotheses (selection, protection, social obligation and marriage market) that might explain the relationship between marital status transitions and changes in Body Mass Index (BMI). The selection hypothesis suggests that those with a lower BMI are more likely to be selected into marriage. The protection hypothesis states that married adults will have better physical health as a result of the increased social support and reduced incidence of risky behavior among married individuals. The social obligation hypothesis states that those in relationships may eat more regular meals and/or richer and denser foods due to social obligations which may arise because of marriage. Finally, the marriage market hypothesis indicates that when adults are no longer in the marriage market they may not maintain a healthy BMI because doing so is costly and they are in a stable union-or on the other hand, adults may enhance their prospects in the marriage market by losing weight. Taking advantage of longitudinal data and complete marriage histories in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, we estimate individual fixed effects models to examine associations between the change in log BMI and the incidence of overweight and obesity, and changes in relationship status controlling for the effects of aging and other respondent characteristics. We find no support for the marriage protection hypothesis. Rather we find evidence supporting the social obligation and marriage market hypotheses-BMI increases for both men and women during marriage and in the course of a cohabiting relationship. Separate analyses by race and ethnicity reveal substantial differences in the response of BMI to relationship status across these groups.

Tax Credits, Labor Supply, and Child Care

We explore the impact of the child care tax credit in the U.S. income tax system on the labor supply decisions of married women with young children by incorporating the cost of child care into a structural labor supply model. Using data from the 1986 NLSY, we find that government subsidies to child care increase labor supply substantially. Our policy simulations show that an increase in the value of the child care tax credit (i.e., percent of expenditures subsidized) would have a much larger effect on labor supply than an increase in the annual expenditure limits of the subsidy or making the subsidy refundable.

New evidence on the relationship between substance use and adolescent sexual behavior.

Policymakers and the public have a clear interest in encouraging teens to delay becoming sexually active or, if they are sexually active, to use birth control. Many researchers have argued that reducing substance use among teens will accomplish both of these goals, yet work in this area has failed to control for unobservables that are potentially correlated with substance use and sexual behavior. Using a variety of estimation techniques and data from National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we estimate the effects of marijuana and alcohol use on two outcomes: the probability of being sexually active, and the probability of having sex without contraception. Our results highlight the importance of controlling for unobservables and indicate that the link between substance use and sexual behavior is much weaker than previously suggested.

The Impact of Government Policies and Neighborhood Characteristics on Teenage Sexual Activity and Contraceptive Use

OBJECTIVES This study sought to examine the effects of government policies and neighborhood characteristics on adolescent female sexual behavior to better inform future public policy decisions. METHODS Using a bivariate probit model and National Survey of Family Growth data on women aged 15 through 19 years, we estimated the probabilities of their being sexually active and, if sexually active, of their using contraceptives. RESULTS Variables measuring the cost of obtaining an abortion are not good predictors of sexual activity or contraceptive use. However, the relationship between family planning availability and contraceptive use is statistically significant at conventional levels. CONCLUSIONS Policymakers seem to have little leverage with regard to influencing the decision to become sexually active, although increased access to family planning services may encourage responsible contraceptive behavior. Neighborhood context is an important determinant of adolescent female sexual behavior.

College attendance and the college wage premium: Differences by gender

Abstract This paper examines gender differences in the decision of whether or not to attend college. We use a human capital model of the decision to attend college, positing that this decision is a function of family background characteristics and the expected future earnings differential between college and high school graduates (the college wage premium). Using data from the NLSY, we demonstrate that for men, the higher the college wage premium, the more likely they are to attend college. However, for women, higher college wage premia have an insignificant effect on the decision to attend college and this effect is robust to a variety of specifications. In addition, we find some support for the comparative advantage hypothesis suggesting that individuals self-select themselves into that level of education which best utilizes their talents.

Does Maternity Leave Induce Births

Alleviating the tension between the conflicting responsibilities women may face as mothers and as workers is a topic of current policy interest. Expansion of guaranteed maternity leave to all employed women in the United States is suggested as one possible “family-friendly” solution. Controversy surrounding the issue of increased maternity leave centers around the potential cost to firms of widespread access to leave. One specific concern is that the availability of maternity leave will actually increase births among eligible working women. In this paper we use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to examine the impact of maternity leave on fertility. We explore two possible routes through which maternity leave may influence fertility. We first estimate the impact of desired fertility on the probability of being in a job offering maternity leave. We then estimate the impact of maternity leave and desired fertility on the probability of a birth. We find no evidence that women sort by fertility desires into firms on the basis of their maternity leave policy. We do find that the probability of a birth increases as a result of maternity leave, and that the fertility effect of maternity leave increases with birth parity.

The Effects Of Earned Income Tax Credit Payment Expansion On Maternal Smoking

The Earned Income Tax Credit is the largest antipoverty program in the USA. In 1993, the Earned Income Tax Credit benefit levels were changed significantly based on the number of children in the family such that families with two or more children experienced an exogenous expansion in their incomes. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort, we use a triple-difference plus fixed effects framework to examine the effect of this change on the probability of smoking among low-educated mothers. We find that the probability of smoking for White low-educated mothers of two or more children significantly decreased relative to those with only one child, and this result is robust to various specification tests. This result provides new evidence on the protective effect of income on health through changes in a health-related behavior and therefore has important policy implications.

FEMALE LABOR SUPPLY WITH A DISCONTINUOUS, NONCONVEX BUDGET CONSTRAINT: INCORPORATION OF A PART-TIME/FULL-TIME WAGE DIFFERENTIAL

This paper incorporates the well-documented part-time/full-time wage differential into an empirical labor supply model with both a heterogeneity- and a random-error term and estimates that model for women in the United States. Incorporation of the part-time/full-time wage differential results in a unique discontinuous, nonconvex budget set, and the consideration of estimation procedures previously unconfronted in the nonlinear budget constraint literature. The full structural representation of the budget constraint is shown to fit better than the alternative models estimated, and to yield a predicted hours distribution representative of actual hours.

Childhood overweight in the United States: a quantile regression approach.

The prevalence of overweight children in the United States has increased dramatically over the past two decades, and is creating well-known public health problems. Moreover, there is also evidence that children who are not overweight are becoming heavier. We use quantile regression models along with standard ordinary least squares (OLS) models to explore the correlates of childhood weight status and overweight as measured by the Body Mass Index (BMI). This approach allows the effects of covariates to vary depending on where in the BMI distribution a child is located. Our results indicate that OLS masks some of the important correlates of child BMI at the upper and lower tails of the weight distribution. For example, mothers education has no effect on black children, but is associated with improvements in BMI for overweight white boys and underweight white girls. Conversely, mothers cognitive aptitude has no effect on white boys, but is associated with BMI improvements for underweight black children and overweight white girls. Further, we find that underweight white children and black girls experience similar improvements in BMI as they get older, but that for black boys there is little if any association between age and BMI anywhere in the BMI distribution.