Structural Racism and Well-Being Among Young People in the U.S.

Abstract

Introduction:

Structural racism has clear and pernicious effects on population health. However, there is a limited understanding of how structural racism impacts young people’s well-being. The objective of this ecologic cross-sectional study was to assess the relationship between structural racism and well-being for 2,009 U.S. counties from 2010 to 2019.

Methods:

Population-based data on demographics, health, and other variables related to young people’s ability to thrive are used to construct a previously validated composite index that serves as a proxy of young people’s well-being. The index is regressed on several forms of structural racism (segregation, economic, and educational) both independently and jointly while accounting for county-fixed effects, time trends, and state-specific trends as well as weighting for child population. Data were analyzed from November 2021 through March 2023.

Results:

Higher levels of structural racism are associated with lower well-being. A 1-SD increase in Black–White child poverty disparity is associated with a −0.034 (95% CI= −0.019, −0.050) SD change in index score. When accounting for multiple structural racism measures, associations remain statistically significant. In joint models, only estimates for economic racism measures remain significant when additionally controlling for demographic, socioeconomic, and adult health measures ( β= −0.015; 95% CI= −0.001, −0.029). These negative associations are heavily concentrated in counties where Black and Latinx children are overrepresented.

Conclusions:

Structural racism—particularly of the kind that produces racialized poverty outcomes—has a meaningful adverse association with child and adolescent well-being, which may produce lifelong effects. Studies of structural racism among adults should consider a lifecourse perspective.