Movers and stayers: how residential selection contributes to the association between female body mass index and neighborhood characteristics.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: To examine how a woman's current body mass index (BMI) is associated with nonrandom residential migration that is based on the average BMI of her origin and destination neighborhoods. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Among women having at least two children, all birth certificates from Salt Lake county from 1989 to 2010 (n=34 010) were used to obtain prepregnancy weights before the first and second births, residential location and sociodemographic information. Census data were used for measures of walkability of neighborhoods. RESULTS: After adjustments for age, education, race/ethnicity and marital status, obese women living in the leanest neighborhoods are found to be three times more likely (odds ratio (OR)=3.03, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.06-4.47) to move to the heaviest neighborhoods relative to women with healthy weight (BMI between 18 and 25 kg m(-2)). Conversely, obese women in the heaviest neighborhoods are 60% less likely (OR=0.39, 95% CI 0.22-0.69) to move to the leanest neighborhoods relative to healthy weight women. Indicators of relatively greater walkability (older housing, greater proportion of residents who walk to work) and higher median family income characterize leaner neighborhoods. CONCLUSIONS: The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that nonrandom selection into and out of neighborhoods accounts for some of the association between BMI and neighborhood characteristics.

Genetic testing, adverse selection, and the demand for life insurance.

The dramatic increase in genetic testing for adult-onset diseases has created a debate regarding whether or not insurance companies should be able to use genetic test results in underwriting. We use data from women who have been tested for the BRCA1 gene mutation along with data from otherwise comparable untested women to assess the potential for adverse selection in the life insurance market when tested individuals know their genetic test results but insurers do not. Our analyses show that women who test positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation do not capitalize on their informational advantage by purchasing more life insurance than those women who have not undergone genetic testing.

An assessment of the wealth holdings of recent widows.

OBJECTIVES: This study examines the wealth holdings of recent widows, how they compare to those of married couple households, and the potential to use this wealth to augment the incomes of widowed women. METHODS: Data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation are used to investigate the amount and composition of wealth held by four different groups: always married women, about-to-be-widowed women, recent widows, and long-standing widows. Regression analyses assess the impact of group membership on wealth holding controlling for other sociodemographic factors, and annuity calculations assess the potential for wealth to augment income. RESULTS: About-to-be widowed women have fewer assets than intact couples, and there is a further decline in assets at the time of the husbands' deaths and in the ensuing period. Estimates of the annuity value of widows' wealth show that its liquidation would do little to improve the economic situation of the poorest widows. DISCUSSION: These findings parallel what is known about income changes that surround the death of a spouse. They also point to the need for additional research on the relationship between wealth holdings and mortality as well as the roles that health care costs, life insurance, and bequests may play in altering widows' wealth.

Risk of mortality following widowhood: age and sex differences by mode of death.

This study examines how spouses' deaths from sudden or lengthy illnesses differentially affect the mortality risks of surviving widows and widowers by age. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we find the mortality risk differs by gender, age, and type of widowhood. For nonelderly (< 65) widowers, there is an elevated risk when their wives died suddenly. For older (> or = 65) widows, the mortality risk is lower than that of comparably aged married women when their husbands died after a long-term illness. These gender, age, and mode-of-death differences are consistent with role theory and theories of social support.

Linked lives, dependent demise? Survival analysis of husbands and wives.

Past research has found that married individuals have substantially lower risks of mortality than their single counterparts. This paper examines how household characteristics affect spouses' risks of mortality. A paired hazard rate model is estimated and tests are made to ascertain whether the estimated coefficients associated with risk factors differ between husbands' and wives' equations. Cigarette smoking, risk-avoidance behavior, poverty, and children are found to affect wives' and husbands' mortality in similar ways. Divorce, which can be interpreted as the termination of this shared household environment, is found to affect spouses differently.

Assessing the correlates of desired family size in Shaanxi, China.

This exploratory analysis of factors associated with Chinese women's fertility desires uses data on married women between the ages of 18 and 35 who live in Shaanxi Province, China. Analyses using an economic framework found that both rural and urban couples who intended to sign, or who had already signed, the one-child certificate reported wanting significantly fewer children. However, in rural areas (where 80 per cent of the provincial population lives), education level, living arrangements, participation in an arranged marriage, attitudes regarding the ideal age for marriage, and knowledge of the reasons for the government's fertility policies appear to play a relatively larger role in shaping fertility preferences.

PIP: An exploratory factor analysis of the political, cultural, and socioeconomic determinants of Chinese women's fertility desires was conducted. Data were obtained from the 1985 China In-Depth Fertility survey for Shaanxi province among 2370 married women 35 years or younger at the time of the survey. The framework for this analysis was based on Easterlin's theory about demand for children and price and income constraints. Price was measured by response to the one-child certificate, marriage delay due to group pressure, residence in an extended family, and woman's educational level. Traditional cultural influences were measured by residence with husband's parents soon after marriage, arranged marriage, correct identification of the reason for the one-child policy, ideal marriage age, and age difference between spouses. The results confirmed the findings of Whyte and Gu on family size desires of 2 children among Hubei respondents. Shaanxi wives were, however, more likely to report a desire of 0 or 2. Childless women tended to report smaller family size desired than women who already had one child. Urban childless women were more likely to desire a family size of one child than rural childless women: 28.4% versus 5.5%. 28.5% of rural women with at least one child desired a family size of three. Urban women were more likely to have signed a one-child certificate. Urban childless women were more likely to live in an extended family and to have a higher educational level than their counterparts. Tobit maximum likelihood estimation methods were used to examine how price, income, and traditional taste variables affected family size desired. The small sample size of urban childless women yielded weaker relationships. Findings indicate evidence of interactions between residence location, actual number of children, and the 12 variables. One-child certificate acceptance increased the cost of children and lowered desires to have more. Educational level only affected fertility desires among rural women with children. Higher family size desires were associated with a younger ideal marriage age. Smaller family size desires were associated with rural women who knew the reason for the one-child certificate and who lived in extended families. Income measures were insignificant.

Patterns of economic change surrounding the death of a spouse.

The timing of economic changes near the death of a spouse is not well understood. Using multiple regression analysis and longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the economic situations of middle-aged and older widows and widowers were compared to those of otherwise similar intact couples over an 11-year period. The analysis shows that all four widowed groups had fewer economic resources 5 years after the death than did their married counterparts. Yet, each group took very different economic paths to get to this point. For example, older widows and widowers begin the analysis with significantly lower income-to-needs ratios 5 years prior to the death, while middle-aged widows experience more economic change near the time of the death. These findings suggest that both middle-aged and older cohorts of widowed individuals may have made consumption choices over the life cycle that differ from those made by their intact counterparts.

Remarriage patterns among recent widows and widowers.

Remarriage is one of the most important determinants of physical and economic well-being among the widowed. The goal of this study is to estimate how hazard rates for remarriage vary among widows and widowers on the basis of both observable and unobservable characteristics. The remarriage estimates rely on nationally representative samples of widows and widowers from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Continuous-time hazard rate regressions indicate strong age and duration dependence effects for middle-aged widows and widowers and for older widowers. Among middle-aged widows, blacks and those with dependent children in the home have lower rates of remarriage. For middle-aged widowers, living in urbanized areas limits the prospects of remarriage. For older widowers, education and, to some extent, economic status appear to have positive effects on the remarriage rates. Overall, age and time since widowhood have the strongest and most consistent effects on remarriage rates for different widowed groups.