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The dynamics of labor force participation and joblessness during young adulthood influence access to social and material resources and shape exposure to different sources of psychosocial strain. Differences in these dynamics by race, ethnicity, and gender are related to changes in a behavioral determinant of poor health (tobacco use) for young adults aging into midlife. Using discrete-time hazards models, we estimate the relationship between labor force participation in the past year and smoking cessation for US adults (ages 14-21 years in 1979) followed in a population-representative sample until 1998 (i.e. the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth). We assess the unique role of racial, ethnic and gender differences in exposure, vulnerability, and reactivity to employment and joblessness by controlling for social and economic resources obtained through working and by controlling for early life factors that select individuals into certain labor force and smoking trajectories. There are three main findings: (1) joblessness is more strongly associated with persistent daily smoking among women than among men: (2) fewer social and economic resources for women out of the labor force compared to employed women explains their lower cessation rates; and (3) lower cessation among unemployed women compared to employed women can only partially be explained by these resources. These findings illustrate how differential access to work-related social and economic resources is an important mediator of poor health trajectories. Contextual factors such as social norms and psychosocial strains at work and at home may play a unique role among European American men and women in explaining gender differences in smoking. Keywords: USA; Gender inequality; Racial and ethnic differences; Labor force participation; Smoking cessation

The objective of this research was to assess the association of child mortality with polygyny and maternal HIV status through a prospective community-based study in Rakai district, Uganda. We sought to test whether there was an indirect evidence that polygynous households in an HIV prevalent area may divert resources away from the children of HIV-infected mothers in favor of children with better survival prospects. We test this theory using data from a follow-up study which collected detailed behavioral and medical information at 10-month intervals on a cohort of over 4000 pregnant women and their infants (5300 person years of observation). Cox proportional hazards models estimated the mortality hazard (RR) associated with polygyny for children of HIV-negative and HIV-positive mothers. HIV prevalence in the full cohort of mothers was 11.9%, and 23% of mothers lived in polygynous households. Multivariate analysis showed an increased hazard of child mortality if the mother was HIV-positive (RR = 1.75, p < 0.001). Maternal education reduced mortality, whereas low birth weight increased mortality risk. Polygyny was associated with an increase in the hazard of child mortality in the full sample (RR = 1.36, p Keywords: Child survival; Polygyny; HIV/AIDS; STD; Uganda