Social Demography Seminar (SDS) presentation by Joscha Legewie, PhD, assistant professor of sociology at Harvard University.

Abstract

The infant mortality rate is now twice as high among Black compared to White infants. A growing body of research highlights the importance of physiological stress in explaining persisting black-white disparities in infant health and ultimately individual outcomes throughout the life course. This project uses data from 5 million birth records in California to investigate the effect of in utero exposure to police killings as acute maternal stressors in the residential environment on the health of Black infants.