Showing papers by "Ashton M. Verdery published in 2017"

Older Adults Without Close Kin in the United States.

Abstract: Objectives We document the size and characteristics of the population of older adults without close kin in the contemporary United States. Methods Using the Health and Retirement Study, we examine the prevalence of lacking different types and combinations of living kin, examine how kinless-ness is changing across birth cohorts, and provide estimates of kinless-ness for sociodemographic and health groups. Results In 1998-2010, 6.6% of U.S. adults aged 55 and above lacked a living spouse and biological children and 1% lacked a partner/spouse, any children, biological siblings, and biological parents. Kinless-ness, defined both ways, is becoming more common among adults in their 50s and 60s for more recent birth cohorts. Lacking close kin is more prevalent among women than men, native born than immigrants, never-married, those living alone, college-educated women, those with low levels of wealth, and those in poor health. Discussion Kinless-ness should be of interest to policy makers because it is more common among those with social, economic and health risks; those who live alone, with low levels of wealth, and disability. Aging research should address the implications of kinless-ness for public health, social isolation, and the demand for institutional care.

Projections of white and black older adults without living kin in the United States, 2015 to 2060.

Abstract: Close kin provide many important functions as adults age, affecting health, financial well-being, and happiness. Those without kin report higher rates of loneliness and experience elevated risks of chronic illness and nursing facility placement. Historical racial differences and recent shifts in core demographic rates suggest that white and black older adults in the United States may have unequal availability of close kin and that this gap in availability will widen in the coming decades. Whereas prior work explores the changing composition and size of the childless population or those without spouses, here we consider the kinless population of older adults with no living close family members and how this burden is changing for different race and sex groups. Using demographic microsimulation and the United States Census Bureau's recent national projections of core demographic rates by race, we examine two definitions of kinlessness: those without a partner or living children, and those without a partner, children, siblings, or parents. Our results suggest dramatic growth in the size of the kinless population as well as increasing racial disparities in percentages kinless. These conclusions are driven by declines in marriage and are robust to different assumptions about the future trajectory of divorce rates or growth in nonmarital partnerships. Our findings draw attention to the potential expansion of older adult loneliness, which is increasingly considered a threat to population health, and the unequal burden kinlessness may place on black Americans.

Social Network Clustering and the Spread of HIV/AIDS Among Persons Who Inject Drugs in 2 Cities in the Philippines.

Abstract: INTRODUCTION The Philippines has seen rapid increases in HIV prevalence among people who inject drugs. We study 2 neighboring cities where a linked HIV epidemic differed in timing of onset and levels of prevalence. In Cebu, prevalence rose rapidly from below 1% to 54% between 2009 and 2011 and remained high through 2013. In nearby Mandaue, HIV remained below 4% through 2011 then rose rapidly to 38% by 2013. OBJECTIVES We hypothesize that infection prevalence differences in these cities may owe to aspects of social network structure, specifically levels of network clustering. Building on previous research, we hypothesize that higher levels of network clustering are associated with greater epidemic potential. METHODS Data were collected with respondent-driven sampling among men who inject drugs in Cebu and Mandaue in 2013. We first examine sample composition using estimators for population means. We then apply new estimators of network clustering in respondent-driven sampling data to examine associations with HIV prevalence. RESULTS Samples in both cities were comparable in composition by age, education, and injection locations. Dyadic needle-sharing levels were also similar between the 2 cities, but network clustering in the needle-sharing network differed dramatically. We found higher clustering in Cebu than Mandaue, consistent with expectations that higher clustering is associated with faster epidemic spread. CONCLUSIONS This article is the first to apply estimators of network clustering to empirical respondent-driven samples, and it offers suggestive evidence that researchers should pay greater attention to network structure's role in HIV transmission dynamics.

New survey questions and estimators for network clustering with respondent-driven sampling data.

Abstract: Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is a popular method for sampling hard-to-survey populations that leverages social network connections through peer recruitment While RDS is most frequently applied to estimate the prevalence of infections and risk behaviors of interest to public health, such as HIV/AIDS or condom use, it is rarely used to draw inferences about the structural properties of social networks among such populations because it does not typically collect the necessary data Drawing on recent advances in computer science, we introduce a set of data collection instruments and RDS estimators for network clustering, an important topological property that has been linked to a network's potential for diffusion of information, disease, and health behaviors We use simulations to explore how these estimators, originally developed for random walk samples of computer networks, perform when applied to RDS samples with characteristics encountered in realistic field settings that depart from random walks In particular, we explore the effects of multiple seeds, without replacement versus with replacement, branching chains, imperfect response rates, preferential recruitment, and misreporting of ties We find that clustering coefficient estimators retain desirable properties in RDS samples This paper takes an important step toward calculating network characteristics using nontraditional sampling methods, and it expands the potential of RDS to tell researchers more about hidden populations and the social factors driving disease prevalence

Enhancing Big Data in the Social Sciences with Crowdsourcing: Data Augmentation Practices, Techniques, and Opportunities

Abstract: Some claim that “Big Data” will fuel a revolution in the social sciences, while skeptics challenge Big Data as unreliably measured, decontextualized, and lacking content validity. We argue that Big Data projects can be enhanced through data augmentation with crowdsourcing marketplaces like Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Following a content analysis of academic applications of MTurk, we present three empirical cases to illustrate the strengths and limits of crowdsourcing and address social science skepticism. The case studies use MTurk to (1) verify machine coding of the academic discipline of dissertation committee members, (2) link online product pages to an online book database, and (3) gather data on mental health resources at colleges. We consider the costs and benefits of augmenting Big Data with crowdsourcing marketplaces and provide guidelines on best practices. We also offer a standardized reporting template that will enhance reproducibility. This study expands the use of micro-task marketplaces to enhance social science acceptance of Big Data.

Family transfers with retirement-aged adults in the United States: Kin availability, wealth differentials, geographic proximity, gender, and racial disparities

Abstract: This paper examines transfers of time and money between retirees and their children. It uses data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to test whether numbers of children, parent-child wealth differentials, geographic proximity, and gender contribute to racial and ethnic differences in transfers of time and money between retirement-aged adults and their children. Critical components of the analysis include measuring kin availability, the spatial and social embeddedness of family networks, supply as well as demand for transfers, and gender. Key limitations are that we exclude those who have no living family members with whom they could transfer, and we do not examine the role of non-familial transfers. The paper found that: -There are large racial disparities in family transfers; non-White older adults are less likely to give either time or money transfers to their children than White older adults. Non-White older adults are also less likely to receive time transfers from their children, but they are more likely to receive money transfers from them. -Having more children is associated with marginal declines in the likelihood of transfer with each child, but an overall increase in the likelihood of transfer with any child. -Parents who live closer to their children tend to provide more time to them and receive more time from them, while those in the same family provide more money. -Parents who are relatively wealthier than their children are more likely to give them money and are less likely to receive time or money from them. -Racial disparities in transfers appear to be growing across parental birth cohorts. The policy implications of these findings are: -Challenges regarding retiree financial security and the availability of informal care from family members are likely to grow because adults with fewer children receive less overall support than those with many children, and historical declines in birth rates mean that more older adults increasingly have fewer children. -Older adults may be more likely to receive instrumental care, but not financial support, from their children in the future, because people are increasingly likely to live close to their children, and closer children are more likely to provide such care. -There may be especially large unmet financial and instrumental needs for female and non-White population subgroups of retirees.