News by Subject Social & Behavior

Rich countries vary a lot when it comes to health and social problems. A comparison of social ills ranging from intentional homicides to obesity rates in 40 rich societies shows that Asian and European countries fare much better than Anglophone and Latin American countries. The most problem-ridden countries are Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and the United States.

Fentanyl use by people who use drugs has doubled since 2015, and two-thirds of people are aware they've taken it, finds new research out of British Columbia, the Canadian province that has experienced the highest number of illicit drug toxicity deaths as a result of the opioid crisis.

A new Northwestern University analysis finds that racial disparities in the mortgage market suggest that discrimination in loan denial and cost has not declined much over the previous 30 to 40 years, yet discrimination in the housing market has decreased during the same time period.

Years of observational studies suggest that prosecutors' race and class biases are among the primary drivers for disparities in criminal justice. Recent University of Arizona-led research indicates otherwise.

But social supports can reduce the negative effects of childhood stress. Childhood adversity is a significant problem in the US, particularly for children growing up in poverty. Those who experience poverty have a much higher risk of being exposed to violence and suffering from a lack of social support, which can have long-term consequences including higher rates of diabetes, cancer, and other diseases.

Extreme heat kills more people in the United States than any other type of hazardous weather and will likely become even deadlier due to climate change. However, extreme heat does not affect all people equally. A new study by researchers at Portland State University, the Science Museum of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University is one of the first to link historical housing policies across the United States to inequitable heat exposure.

Overall, 93% of the German populace feels valued in their everyday lives, whereas far fewer -- but still one out two (52%) -- feel disrespected. Disrespect, however, is most commonly experienced in the workplace. East and West Germans feel equally appreciated in their everyday lives -- yet also equally disrespected. Rather, how much appreciation and disrespect a person experiences strongly depends on levels of income, education, and the employment status.

Low-income people with addiction, especially those with addiction to opioids, may find it hard to access the kind of care they need to recover no matter where they live, a new study suggests. But treatment for opioid problems is especially scarce in states that may drop people from Medicaid health insurance rolls -- unless they can show that they're working, in school, have a disability or are medically frail or receiving substance use disorder treatment.

The largest mental health facilities in the US are now county jails, with an estimated 15% of men and 31% of women who are incarcerated in jails nationally having a serious and persistent mental disorder. A new study finds that more than half of those in the mental health population of the Los Angeles County jails are candidates for diversion programs where they would receive treatment instead of being incarcerated.

Compared to Canada, the US spends four times more on health care administration ($551 vs. $2,479 per person), mostly due to the surging overhead of private insurers. Health care bureaucracy cost Americans $812 billion in 2017, representing more than one-third of total expenditures for doctor visits, hospitals, long-term care, and health insurance. Cutting U.S. administrative costs to Canadian levels by adopting single-payer health financing would have saved more than $600 billion.