Is Segregation Bad for Your Health? The Case of Low Birth Weight

Publication Date: December 1999

Publisher: Furman Center for Real Estate

Author(s): Ingrid Gould Ellen

Research Area: Social conditions

Keywords: Health; Race; Segregation; Community and Economic Development

Type: Article

Abstract:

This paper explores the relationship between racial segregation and racial disparities in the prevalence of low birth weight. The paper has two parallel motivations. First, the disparities between black and white mothers in birth outcomes are large and persistent. Second, while there is a growing literature on the costs of racial segregation it has largely focused on economic outcomes such as education and employment.