Racial and ethnic differentials in COVID-19-related job exposures by occupational standing in the US.

Researchers and journalists have argued that work-related factors may be partly responsible for disproportionate COVID-19 infection and death rates among vulnerable groups. We evaluate these issues by describing racial and ethnic differences in the likelihood of work-related exposure to COVID-19. We extend previous studies by considering 12 racial and ethnic groups and five types of potential occupational exposure to the virus: exposure to infection, physical proximity to others, face-to-face discussions, interactions with external customers and the public, and working indoors. Most importantly, we stratify our results by occupational standing, defined as the proportion of workers within each occupation with at least some college education. This measure serves as a proxy for whether workplaces and workers employ COVID-19-related risk reduction strategies. We use the 2018 American Community Survey to identify recent workers by occupation, and link 409 occupations to information on work context from the Occupational Information Network to identify potential COVID-related risk factors. We then examine the racial/ethnic distribution of all frontline workers and frontline workers at highest potential risk of COVID-19, by occupational standing and by sex. The results indicate that, contrary to expectation, White frontline workers are often overrepresented in high-risk jobs while Black and Latino frontline workers are generally underrepresented in these jobs. However, disaggregation of the results by occupational standing shows that, in contrast to Whites and several Asian groups, Latino and Black frontline workers are overrepresented in lower standing occupations overall and in lower standing occupations associated with high risk, and thus may be less likely to have adequate COVID-19 protections. Our findings suggest that greater work exposures likely contribute to a higher prevalence of COVID-19 among Latino and Black adults and underscore the need for measures to reduce potential exposure for workers in low standing occupations and for the development of programs outside the workplace.

Different Discussion Partners and Their Effect on Depression among Older Adults.

Although the multidimensionality of core discussion networks has been well established and widely studied, studies of the effects of social support on depression rarely consider the multifaceted aspects of dyadic discussion partner ties. This article proposes defining dyadic social relationships as a construct comprising several tie-level attributes and differentiating multiple forms of support relationships by assessing the configuration pattern of multiple attributes. The current study examines various forms of older adults' discussion partners and identifies which form of discussion partner relationship is effective at buffering the negative effects of adverse life events on depression symptoms. Results from the University of California Social Network Survey show that older adults' discussion partners can be classified into five distinct types of dyadic ties: spouse/romantic partners, close neighbors, remote type, social companions, and acquaintances. The discussion network with more close neighbor confidants is more effective at buffering the negative effects of adverse life events. These results offer an alternative way of investigating the differential significance of various social support relationships in mental well-being.

Racial and ethnic differentials in COVID-19-related job exposures by occupational standing in the US.

Researchers and journalists have argued that work-related factors may be partly responsible for disproportionate COVID-19 infection and death rates among vulnerable groups. We evaluate these claims by examining racial and ethnic differences in the likelihood of work-related exposure to COVID-19. We extend previous studies by considering 12 racial and ethnic groups and five types of potential occupational exposure to the virus: exposure to infection, physical proximity to others, face-to-face discussions, interactions with external customers and the public, and working indoors. Most importantly, we stratify our results by occupational standing, defined as the proportion of workers within each occupation with at least some college education. This measure serves as a proxy for whether workplaces and workers employ significant COVID-19-related risk reduction strategies. We use the 2018 American Community Survey to identify recent workers by occupation, and link 409 occupations to information on work context from the Occupational Information Network to identify potential COVID-related risk factors. We then examine the racial/ethnic distribution of all frontline workers and frontline workers at highest potential risk of COVID-19, by occupational standing and by sex. The results indicate that, contrary to expectation, White frontline workers are often overrepresented in high-risk jobs while Black and Latino frontline workers are generally underrepresented in these jobs. However, disaggregation of the results by occupational standing shows that, in contrast to Whites and several Asian groups, Latino and Black frontline workers are overrepresented in lower status occupations overall and in lower status occupations associated with high risk, and are thus less likely to have adequate COVID-19 protections. Our findings suggest that greater work exposures likely contribute to a higher prevalence of COVID-19 among Latino and Black adults and underscore the need for measures to reduce potential exposure for workers in low status occupations and for the development of programs outside the workplace.

Trajectories of neighborhood attainment after prison.

A potentially important but understudied aspect of prisoner reentry is the neighborhood environments experienced by formerly incarcerated people. We know that many formerly incarcerated people return to very disadvantaged neighborhood environments and that returning to disadvantaged neighborhoods after prison increases the risk of recidivism and reduces employment. Yet very little is known about the social, economic, and institutional processes that sort formerly incarcerated people into different neighborhoods after release or their trajectories of neighborhood attainment over time. Motivated by a conceptualization of prisoner reentry and reintegration as a process that unfolds over time, we examine trajectories of neighborhood environments after release. Motivated by the literature on neighborhood attainment, social capital, and the role of criminal justice institutions in structuring the lives of former prisoners, we examine sources of variation in neighborhood attainment. We use administrative data from the Michigan Department of Corrections on formerly incarcerated people paroled in 2003 and followed for two years after release. Descriptive results from a latent class trajectory model show that most white and black formerly incarcerated people experience flat trajectories, with little upward or downward residential mobility over time. Findings from multi-level growth curve models suggest that institutional factors are particularly important for the neighborhood attainment of whites, while human capital and social ties are particularly important for blacks. Among both blacks and whites, pre-prison and first post-prison neighborhood conditions exhibit a strong association with post-prison neighborhood attainment, although these associations are larger for blacks than whites.