Embedded in our understanding of structural racism are the numerous actions and inactions of institutions that influence the physical and social environments in which people live. However, few public health scholars have examined racially patterned financial decisionmaking in the public sector. Those few have focused on health spending rather than the social conditions that influence health upstream—the social determinants of health (SDOH).
This project will examine the US Census of Governments to determine if expenditures related to education, policing, social services, revenue generated through law enforcement, and intergovernmental transfers (IGT) of money across the US are racially patterned and predictive of health outcomes across the lifespan. The study will achieve the following:
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examine geographic variation in spending and IGT from the state for SDOH and their relationship to other spending not traditionally related to health, such as police and corrections and revenue from fees and fines from 2002 to 2017
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determine if public spending for SDOH is racially patterned
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make these publicly available data easier to access for researchers, policymakers, and constituents interested in understanding governmental financial decisionmaking for known social factors that influence health