abstract: 'The health effects of economic resources (eg, education, employment, and

  living place) and psychological assets (eg, self-efficacy, perceived

  control over life, anger control, and emotions) are well-known. This

  article summarizes the results of a growing body of evidence documenting

  Blacks'' diminished return, defined as a systematically smaller health

  gain from economic resources and psychological assets for Blacks in

  comparison to Whites. Due to structural barriers that Blacks face in

  their daily lives, the very same resources and assets generate smaller

  health gain for Blacks compared to Whites. Even in the presence of equal

  access resources and assets, such unequal health gain constantly

  generates a racial health gap between Blacks and Whites in the United

  States. In this paper, a number of public policies are recommended based

  on these findings. First and foremost, public policies should not merely

  focus on equalizing access to resources and assets, but also reduce the

  societal and structural barriers that hinder Blacks. Policy solutions

  should aim to reduce various manifestations of structural racism

  including but not limited to differential pay, residential segregation,

  lower quality of education, and crime in Black and urban communities. As

  income was not found to follow the same pattern demonstrated for other

  resources and assets (ie, income generated similar decline in risk of

  mortality for Whites and Blacks), policies that enforce equal income and

  increase minimum wage for marginalized populations are essential.

  Improving quality of education of youth and employability of young

  adults will enable Blacks to compete for high paying jobs. Policies that

  reduce racism and discrimination in the labor market are also needed.

  Without such policies, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to

  eliminate the sustained racial health gap in the United States.'
affiliation: 'Assari, S (Corresponding Author), Univ Michigan, Sch Publ Hlth, CRECH,
  Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA.

  Assari, S (Corresponding Author), Univ Michigan, Dept Psychiat, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
  USA.

  Assari, S (Corresponding Author), Univ Michigan, IHPI, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA.

  Assari, Shervin, Univ Michigan, Sch Publ Hlth, CRECH, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA.

  Assari, Shervin, Univ Michigan, Dept Psychiat, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA.

  Assari, Shervin, Univ Michigan, IHPI, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA.'
author: Assari, Shervin
author-email: assari@umich.edu
author_list:
- family: Assari
  given: Shervin
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.15171/ijhpm.2017.90
eissn: 2322-5939
esi-highly-cited-paper: Y
esi-hot-paper: N
files: []
journal: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEALTH POLICY AND MANAGEMENT
keywords: 'Racial Health Disparities; Structural Barriers; Racism; Health Policy;

  Public Policy'
keywords-plus: 'SELF-RATED HEALTH; SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS; JOHN-HENRYISM; PERCEIVED

  DISCRIMINATION; DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS; AFRICAN-AMERICANS; SOCIAL SUPPORT;

  UNITED-STATES; RELIGIOUS INVOLVEMENT; EXPLORING VARIATIONS'
language: English
month: JAN
number: '1'
number-of-cited-references: '144'
orcid-numbers: Assari, Shervin/0000-0002-5054-6250
pages: 1-9
papis_id: db0250a68c187c233f8290f444910069
ref: Assari2018unequalgain
researcherid-numbers: Assari, Shervin/B-3062-2011
times-cited: '184'
title: Unequal Gain of Equal Resources across Racial Groups
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000428112000001
usage-count-last-180-days: '5'
usage-count-since-2013: '53'
volume: '7'
web-of-science-categories: Health Care Sciences \& Services; Health Policy \& Services
year: '2018'