Hierarchies of Risk: The Longitudinal Dynamics of Family, Work, Welfare, and Health Insurance in Low-Income Women's Lives

Abstract

Lack of access to health insurance for millions of Americans is an important component of the contemporary health care crisis. Low-income women are at particularly high risk of having no or inadequate insurance. Utilizing longitudinal data collected from 1,662 low-income women I conduct a series of logistic regression analyses to assess the role of individual-level welfare, work, and family changes in predicting women's access to insurance and changes in poverty status over time. The results provide evidence of a hierarchy of risk among low-income women, with those experiencing life changes at greater risk of being uninsured or having unmet health needs than those with more stable welfare, work, and family trajectories. These findings illustrate the complex effects of life changes on women's access to insurance, differential risks for different categories of low-income women, and the need for comprehensive health care reform in the U.S.