Social and Economic Determinants of Maternal Morbidity in the United States

NIH RePORTER · NIH · R03 · $147,204 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

OTHER PROJECT INFORMATION – Project Summary/Abstract Affordable Housing During Childhood and Women’s Health Outcomes in Early Adulthood Research shows that low-socioeconomic status (SES) and minority women have worse maternal health outcomes than higher-SES, white women in the United States. Researchers hypothesize that social determinants of health (SDOH) such as food insecurity, discrimination, and pollution may affect these maternal health disparities. Among the various SDOH, however, there is little information about the link between affordable housing availability and health outcomes of low-SES women. This proposal explores whether affordable housing made available through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Program improves the maternal health of low-SES women. I link data on new LIHTC affordable housing units in Florida to birth and death certificates for women born into low-income Census tracts between 1975-1985. Then I locate these women when they first give birth, and I measure their health and socioeconomic outcomes at that time. The hypothesis is that low-income women born into Census tracts with more affordable housing units per capita have better maternal health outcomes than low-income women born into tracts with fewer affordable housing units. One potential mechanism that I explore is that place-based affordable housing, like LIHTC, fosters economic development in low-income neighborhoods, which in turn provides economic opportunities for low-SES women and their families.

Key facts

NIH application ID
10336069
Project number
3R03HD100709-02S1
Recipient
NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH
Principal Investigator
SARA MARKOWITZ
Activity code
R03
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2021
Award amount
$147,204
Award type
3
Project period
2020-08-10 → 2023-07-31