Overview

Poverty and Birth Outcomes in California: A dashboard for PHW251B students

Data source: CalEnviroScreen 4.0

Background: CalEnviroScreen is a mapping tool that helps identify California communities that are most affected by many sources of pollution, where people are often especially vulnerable to pollution’s effects.

CalEnviroScreen ranks census tracts in California based on potential exposures to pollutants, adverse environmental conditions, socioeconomic factors and the prevalence of certain health conditions. Data used in the CalEnviroScreen model come from national and state sources.

The version of CalEnviroScreen used in this dashboard was released in October 2021.

Research Question: How do socioeconomic factors such as poverty and access to education relate to the incidence of low birthweight infants across California?

Importance: These visualizations can help guide evidence-based policy decisions, focusing maternal and infant health intervention efforts in high-risk areas. Based on these insights, government agencies or non-profits can design targeted interventions to reduce low birthweight incidences in counties with the highest poverty and educational disparities and improve birth equity by advocating for county and state policies that address structural causes of health disparities.

Results: The bubble chart shows a positive relationship between incidence of poverty (living at 2x federal poverty line) and low birthweight infants. The education gradient shows that low birthweight also increases as the % of adults without a high school education increases.

The bar chart examines poverty quartiles and low birthweight in selected Bay Area cities, showing the regional variation within a small geographic area as a result of historical segregation and policies such as redlining. There is a clear relationship between higher poverty percentile and higher percentages of low birthweight infants in these cities.

The lollipop chart to the right is depicting average % of the population living under 2x the federal poverty level in each county in California.

All of these visualizations may be used to further research structural determinants of health in California and geographically target policy advocacy and public health interventions for Maternal and Child Health.