Socioeconomic Inequalities and Ethnic Discrimination in COVID-19 Outcomes: the Case of Mexico.

In Mexico, Indigenous people were hospitalised and killed by COVID-19 at a disproportionate rate compared to the non-Indigenous population. The main factors contributing to this were poor health conditions and impoverished social and economic circumstances within the country. The objective of this study is to examine the extent to which ethnic disparities are attributable to processes of structural discrimination and further explore the factors that exacerbate or mitigate them. Using administrative public data on COVID-19 and Census information, this study uses the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition method to examine the extent to which disparities are illegitimate and signal discrimination against Indigenous people. The results show that although ethnic disparities were mainly attributable to observable differences in individual and contextual characteristics, 22.8% (p < 0.001) of the ethnic gap in hospitalisations, 17.5% in early deaths and 16.4% in overall deaths remained unexplained and could potentially indicate systemic discrimination. These findings highlight that pre-existing and longstanding illegitimate disparities against Indigenous people jeopardise the capacity of multi-ethnic countries to achieve social justice in health.

Estrutura familiar e dinâmica educacional entre gerações / Family structure and educational dynamics between generations / Estructura familiar y dinámica educativa entre generaciones

O presente estudo busca identificar o impacto da estrutura familiar (biparentais e uniparentais) sobre a dinâmica educacional intergeracional e a acumulação de capital humano. Foram utilizados os microdados da Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílio (PNAD) de 2014. A dinâmica educacional intergeracional foi analisada a partir de matrizes de transição e de processos de Markov. As diferenças de acumulação de capital humano entre as categorias de estruturas familiares foram investigadas a partir da decomposição de Blinder-Oaxaca. Os resultados indicam que ser dependente, do sexo feminino e residir na zona urbana são características associadas a uma maior mobilidade intergeracional de educação. O Nordeste se destaca como a região com menor mobilidade intergeracional educacional. A decomposição de Blinder-Oaxaca indica que, em média, as famílias uniparentais chefiadas por uma mulher possuem 0,5 ano de estudo a mais do que as uniparentais chefiadas pelo pai. Cerca de 74,2% dessa diferença é explicada pelo modelo estimado e a parte não explicada não possui significância estatística. Os resultados sugerem que a estrutura familiar afeta a dinâmica intergeracional de educação e a acumulação de capital humano dos indivíduos.

Objective. The present study seeks to identify the impact of the family structure (two-parent and one-parent) on the intergenerational educational dynamics and the accumulation of human capital. Method. The microdata from the National Household Sampling Survey (PNAD) of 2014 were used. The intergenerational educational dynamics was analyzed based on transition matrices and Markov processes. Differences in human capital accumulation between categories of family structures were investigated based on the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition. Results. Results indicate that being dependent, female and living in the urban area are characteristics associated with greater intergenerational education mobility. The Northeast region stands out as the region with the lowest educational intergenerational mobility. The decomposition of Blinder-Oaxaca indicates that, on average, single-parent families headed by a woman have 0.5 years of study more than single-parent families headed by a father. About 74.2% of this difference is explained by the estimated model and the unexplained part has no statistical significance. Conclusion. Results suggest that the family structure affects the intergenerational dynamics of education and the accumulation of human capital of individuals.

Objetivo. El presente estudio busca identificar el impacto de la estructura familiar (biparental y monoparental) sobre la dinámica educativa intergeneracional y la acumulación de capital humano. Método. Se utilizaron los microdatos de la Encuesta Nacional de Muestreo de Hogares (PNAD) de 2014. Se analizó la dinámica educativa intergeneracional a partir de matrices de transición y procesos de Markov. Las diferencias en la acumulación de capital humano entre categorías de estructuras familiares se investigaron con base en la descomposición Blinder-Oaxaca. Resultados. Los resultados indican que ser dependiente, ser mujer y vivir en el área urbana son características asociadas a una mayor movilidad educativa intergeneracional. La nordestina se destaca como la región con menor movilidad educativa intergeneracional. La descomposición de Blinder-Oaxaca indica que, en promedio, las familias monoparentales encabezadas por una mujer tienen 0,5 años de estudio más que las familias monoparentales encabezadas por el padre. Aproximadamente el 74,2 % de esta diferencia se explica por el modelo estimado y la parte inexplicada no tiene significación estadística. Conclusión. Los resultados sugieren que la estructura familiar afecta la dinámica intergeneracional de la educación y la acumulación de capital humano de los individuos.

Determinants of private health insurance coverage among Mexican American men 2010-2013.

BACKGROUND: Private health insurance (PHI) represents the largest source of insurance for Americans. Hispanic Americans have one of the lowest rates of PHI coverage. The largest group in the US Hispanic population are Mexican Americans; they account for about two in every three Hispanics. One in every three Mexican Americans aged 64 years and under did not have health insurance coverage. Mexican Americans have the most unfavorable health insurance coverage of any population group in the nation. OBJECTIVES: The objective is to determine the factors associated with the gap in PHI coverage between Mexican American and non-Hispanic American men. METHODS: This study used the National Health Interview Surveys (2010-2013) as the sample. A non-linear Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition was run, estimating the explained and unexplained gap in PHI coverage between the groups. Several robustness tests of the model were also included. RESULTS: This study estimates that 44.4% of employed Mexican American men are covered by PHI compared to 79.5% of non-Hispanic American men. Nearly 60% of employed Mexican American men were found to be foreign born, 35% have an educational attainment less than a high school degree, and 40% are likely to have language barriers. Decomposition results show that income, low educational attainment, being foreign-born, and language barriers diminished the probability of private health insurance coverage for Mexican Americans, and that 10% of the gap is unexplained. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the difference in the PHI rate between Mexican American men and non-Hispanic men is explained by observable differences in group characteristics: education, language, and immigration status. About 10% of the difference can be attributed to discrimination under the traditional interpretation of an Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition. The PHI rate gap is large and persistent for Mexican American men.