# Social and Economic Determinants of Maternal Morbidity in the United States

> **NIH NIH R03** · NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH · 2021 · $147,204

## 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 organization:** NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH
- **Principal Investigator:** SARA MARKOWITZ
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $147,204
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-08-10 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10336069

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10336069, Social and Economic Determinants of Maternal Morbidity in the United States (3R03HD100709-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10336069. Licensed CC0.

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