Racial Dimensions of Disability: Weathering and Residential Context

Christiane von Reichert, University of Montana
E. Helen Berry , Utah State University
Rayna Sage, University of Montana

The purpose of this paper is to examine rates of disability by age, race, sex and rural-urban residence, focusing on differences between racial groups and on the variables associated with racial differences in disability rates. Data from the American Community Survey (2011-2015), and the definition of disability utilized within the ACS, are incorporated to clarify disability rates for Blacks, American Indians, Asians and Whites and whether differences in rates can be explained by variables beyond race. For the analysis, each group is divided by rural and urban residence to closely examine differences in disability by age, sex and context. Multivariate logit analysis suggests that the weathering hypothesis explains much of the difference between rates, but so does the residential context.

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 Presented in Session 9. Marriage, Family, Households, & Unions; Gender, Race, & Ethnicity