Structural
State minimum wage laws and state-level rates of new HIV diagnoses among Black, Latine, and White U.S. women and men, 2010-2019 Dougie Zubizarreta* Dougie E. Zubizarreta Jarvis T. Chen Ariel L. Beccia S. Bryn Austin Scott Burris Lindsay K. Cloud Madina Agénor
Racialized inequities in HIV are marked and persistent. Structural racism-related laws, including economic policies that disproportionately affect people of color, are potential drivers of these inequities. Yet, research is lacking on the impact of specific US state laws.
Data on inflation-adjusted state minimum wage laws from Temple’s Center for Public Health Law Research was linked to data on state-level rates of new HIV diagnoses among US adults aged 13-59 from AIDSVu (N=51 states/DC). Linear models with state and year fixed effects were fit to examine associations between changes in state minimum wage laws and changes in state-level rates of new HIV diagnoses per 100,000 from 2010-19 among racialized groups (Black, Latine, White), overall and by gender, adjusting for time-varying state-level covariates (Medicaid expansion status, voter political lean, political ideology of elected officials). Sensitivity analyses lagged state minimum wage laws and time-varying covariates by one year to account for any delays in the effect of changes in state minimum wage laws.
Findings show a consistent pattern of decrease in HIV rates associated with increases in state minimum wages across all racialized groups. We observed the largest effects for Black adults, for whom a $1 increase in the state minimum wage was associated with a 5.5 per 100,000 decrease in HIV rate, followed by Latine adults (2.7/100,000), and White adults (1.5/100,000). We identified similar patterns within gender groups. Among men, the impact of increasing state minimum wages on HIV rates was greater for Black men (6.3/100,000) followed by Latine men (4.7/100,000) and White men (2.9/100,000). Among women, the effect was largest for Black women (5.9/100,000) but small for Latine women (0.9/100,000) and null for White women. Findings from lagged analyses were consistent with non-lagged analyses.
State minimum wage laws are a critical intervention for mitigating racialized HIV inequities among US men and women.
