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Perceptions of unfair treatment or judgment due to race or ethnicity in five settings
Perceptions of unfair treatment or judgment due to race or ethnicity in five settings
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Author(s):
- Gonzalez, Dulce, author
Kenney, Genevieve M., author
McDaniel, Marla, author
Skopec, Laura, author - Contributor(s):
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, issuing body.
Urban Institute, issuing body. - Publication:
- Washington, DC : Urban Institute, August 2021
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Healthcare Disparities -- statistics & numerical data
Racism -- statistics & numerical data
Stress, Psychological -- physiopathology
United States - Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- People of color often encounter racial and ethnic discrimination in their daily activities, including when seeking health care (Bleich et al. 2019; Gonzalez et al. 2021; Hamel et al. 2020; Mays et al. 2018; Nong et al. 2020; Skopec and Long 2016), buying or renting a home (Kijakazi et al. 2019; McCargo and Choi 2020; Turner et al. 2013), applying for jobs (Kang et al. 2016; Quillian et al. 2017), applying for public assistance (Barnes and Henly 2018; Hahn et al. 2016; McDaniel et al. 2017), and interacting with law enforcement (Alang et al. 2017; Bui, Coates, and Matthay 2018; Edwards, Lee, and Esposito 2019). Individually and cumulatively, these experiences cause biological stress reactions, and continually facing individual and structural racism can have serious detrimental effects on a person’s mental and physical health and exacerbate health inequities (Brondolo et al. 2011; Duru et al. 2012; Geronimus et al. 2006; McEwen 2017; Miller et al. 2021). In addition, these adverse experiences may increase a person’s reluctance to interact with systems and services critical for reducing hardships and improving well-being (Pratt and Hahn 2021; Skopec, Gonzalez, and Kenney 2021). During the COVID-19 pandemic, Black* and Hispanic/Latinx† adults have disproportionately experienced negative economic and health impacts (Karpman, Zuckerman, and Kenney 2020; Lopez, Hart, and Katz 2021), which were shaped by long-standing racial and ethnic inequities stemming from systemic racism and discrimination (Dubay et al. 2020). Because safety net programs, job opportunities, and housing will play significant roles in the economic recovery from the pandemic, it is important to understand the extent to which actors in these areas, such as enrollment workers, health care providers, and potential employers, discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity. It will also be crucial to then disrupt those patterns so families can access the resources and supports they need. Assessing interpersonal experiences of unfair treatment or judgment in different settings can help inform decisions about how to center racial equity in our policies and practices. This paper expands on prior Urban Institute work on unfair judgment and discrimination in health care settings (Gonzalez et al. 2021; Skopec and Long 2016) by exploring similar experiences related to race and ethnicity across five domains during the pandemic. To do so, we draw on data from the Urban Institute’s December 2020 Well-Being and Basic Needs Survey (WBNS), a nationally representative survey of more than 7,500 nonelderly adults ages 18 to 64. Using questions newly added to this survey, we explored respondents’ perceptions of unfair treatment or judgment in five settings: 1. At work or when applying for jobs 2. When interacting with police or law enforcement 3. At a doctor’s office, clinic, or hospital 4. When applying for social services or public assistance 5. When trying to rent a room or apartment or buy a house Further information on survey question wording and the limitations of this analysis is in the data and methods section.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-DC license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (19 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918300287306676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918300287306676