Take a Number: Population News You Might Have Missed

Black and Hispanic Women and Infants Dying of AIDS at Disproportionately High Rates

(September 2005) A dramatically disproportionate share of black and Hispanic women and infants in the United States die from AIDS, according to an article in the August 2005 issue of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

Between 1990 and 2001, black U.S. women ages 14 to 44 were 13.5 times more likely to die of HIV-related causes than white U.S. women in the same age group. Hispanic women those ages were 3.4 times more likely to die from HIV than their white peers. In addition, co-authors Matthew D. Redelings, Douglas M. Frye, and Frank Sorvillo found the HIV-related mortality rate for black babies during the same period was 16.3 times that of white babies. And Hispanic infants died of HIV-related causes at 2.4 times the rate of white non-Hispanic infants.

The advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy for AIDS in 1995 also helped black women less than it helped other female subgroups. While reported HIV-related death rates plunged between 70 percent and 80 percent for white, Hispanic, and Asian women between 1995 and 2001, the mortality rate for black women infected with the virus declined only about 54 percent during the same period. According to Redelings, an epidemiology analyst for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, these disparities highlight the need for more targeted prevention and treatment approaches for black and Hispanic women and infants.

-Sandra Yin, PRB Associate Editor

Immigration From Old and New Sources Fueling U.K. Population Growth

(September 2005) Immigrants made up more than one-half of the 2.2 million people added to the United Kingdom between 1991 and 2001—and a growing number of those new residents are coming from less-traditional destinations, according to a new study from the Institute of Public Policy Research and Sheffield University.

People born in traditional countries of origin for U.K. migrants such as the Republic of Ireland, India, and Pakistan remained the country's largest immigrant groups. But the study reported increases of over 100 percent from countries with less history of immigration to Britain, including Albania, China, South Africa, and Sierra Leone. More than 4.3 million (or 7.5 percent) of U.K. residents were born abroad, including more than 1.8 million Londoners—about one-quarter of the city's residents.

Large economic disparities divide some U.K. immigrant groups: While nearly 20 percent of new immigrants from India were "high earners" (making at least $1,350 weekly), only 43 percent of new Bangladeshi immigrants were even employed. New immigrants from places as disparate as the former Czechoslovakia, Malawi, and Hong Kong all averaged earnings of less than one-half the U.K. median weekly wage of around $540.

Such disparities have rekindled debate on the country's immigration policy. While U.K. Home Office Minister Tony McNulty said national economic success requires a continuing influx of foreign-born people, Conservative Party shadow home secretary David Davis called the U.K. immigration system an "utter shambles" and unreflective of the popular will.

-Robert Lalasz, PRB Senior Editor

Lower STI Rates for Teens Who Perceive Strong Parental Disapproval of Teen Sex

(September 2005) Teens who thought their parents strongly disapproved of their having sex were less likely to test positive for a sexually transmitted infection (STI) six years later, according to a study in the July 2005 issue of the journal Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

The findings were based on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Seventh through 12th graders were first polled in 1995 and then later tested for the STIs chlamydia, gonorrhea, and trichomoniasis. While 6.2 percent of respondents in the second phase tested positive for an STI, only 5.5 percent who thought their parents strongly objected to their engaging in sex tested positive. By comparison, 8.0 percent of those who perceived moderate parental disapproval and 8.9 percent who perceived low parental disapproval later tested positive.

Researchers also found that many other factors associated with prolonged virginity—such as taking a pledge of virginity as a teen or attending parochial school—had no effect on an adolescent's chance of having an STI six years later. "To reduce sexually transmitted diseases in young adults," says study co-author Carol Ford, "it's important to acknowledge that strategies to reduce risk during the adolescent years may not extend to the young adult years."

Reference

Carol A. Ford et al., "Predicting Adolescents' Longitudinal Risk for Sexually Transmitted Infection," Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 159 (2005): 657-64.