The old-age experience of African-Americans and of Whites has historically been different and remains different to this day. African-Americans today face poorer health in old age, are more likely to be retired, and are more likely to live with family members. Although mortality differences between the races at older ages are still a subject of debate, prior to age 85 blacks face higher mortality rates than whites. After age 85 the """"""""cross-over"""""""" in black and white mortality rates observed throughout the twentieth century may arise either from selection or from age misreporting. Several factors account for the different old age experiences of blacks and whites. In the case of retirement and living arrangements, these factors include the lower income and social status of African-Americans over their entire life-cycle, cultural norms regarding lifestyle, health differences, and differences in demographic characteristics. In the case of mortality and disability, these factors include differences in income, education, and access to medical care, health habits, environmental stress (including that from disease and poor nutrition) throughout the life-cycle (including early childhood), mortality selection, and genetics. This project will use data on Black Union Army veterans, White Union Army veterans, and recent populations to establish long-run trends in the prevalence of chronic conditions and disability among African-Americans and compare trends with those in the white population; investigate whether differential exposure to infectious disease and differences in occupational status can account for morbidity and mortality differentials between white and black veterans; use army and Pension Bureau reports of age at young ages to establish whether there is a Black-White mortality cross-over at ages 85+; determine whether differences in black and white veterans' retirement rates spring from differences in health, occupation, and local area unemployment; determine whether differences in Black and White veterans' health, marital status, and kin availability account for their differential probabilities of living in extended families; and establish the impact of pensions (a pure income transfer) on black veterans' propensity to retire and to live in extended families, comparing the responsiveness of Black veterans to income transfers with that of White veterans. The findings will help illuminate the role of the greater life-long poverty of African-Americans in explaining differences in Black-White retirement patterns, elderly living arrangements, morbidity, and mortality. The findings will also help forecast future retirement, mortality, and disability trends that will aid in the development of health and pension policies.
| Costa, Dora L; Yetter, Noelle; DeSomer, Heather (2018) Intergenerational transmission of paternal trauma among US Civil War ex-POWs. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 115:11215-11220 |
| Costa, Dora L; Kahn, Matthew E; Roudiez, Christopher et al. (2018) Persistent Social Networks: Civil War Veterans Who Fought Together Co-Locate in Later Life. Reg Sci Urban Econ 70:289-299 |
| Costa, Dora L; Kahn, Matthew E; Roudiez, Christopher et al. (2018) Data set from the Union Army samples to study locational choice and social networks. Data Brief 17:226-233 |
| Costa, Dora L; Kahn, Matthew E (2017) DEATH AND THE MEDIA: INFECTIOUS DISEASE REPORTING DURING THE HEALTH TRANSITION. Economica 84:393-416 |
| Costa, Dora L; DeSomer, Heather; Hanss, Eric et al. (2017) Union Army Veterans, All Grown Up. Hist Methods 50:79-95 |
| Bleakley, Hoyt; Hong, Sok Chul (2017) Adapting to the Weather: Lessons from U.S. History. J Econ Hist 77:756-795 |
| Abramitzky, Ran; Boustan, Leah (2017) Immigration in American Economic History. J Econ Lit 55:1311-1345 |
| Bleakley, Hoyt; Ferrie, Joseph (2016) Shocking Behavior: Random Wealth in Antebellum Georgia and Human Capital Across Generations. Q J Econ 131:1455-1495 |
| Costa, Dora (2015) Health and the Economy in the United States, from 1750 to the Present. J Econ Lit 53:503-570 |
| Costa, Dora L; Kahn, Matthew E (2015) Declining Mortality Inequality within Cities during the Health Transition. Am Econ Rev 105:564-9 |
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