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48 J. Soc. & Soc. Welfare 56 (2021)
The Interlinkage between Blood Plasma Donation and Poverty in the United States

handle is hein.journals/jrlsasw48 and id is 229 raw text is: The Interlinkage Between Blood Plasma Donation and Poverty in the United States Analidis Ochoa University of Michigan-Ann Arbor H. Luke Shaefer University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Andrew Grogan-Kaylor University of Michigan-Ann Arbor In 2019, plasma centers in the United States received a record 53.5 million blood donations, roughly triple that collected during the Great Recession. Recent ethnographic research and journalistic accounts connect plasma sales and poverty, an association that would carry important public health impli- cations given the vulnerability of disadvantaged populations. This study is the first to examine a range of socioeconomic characteristics of communities where commercial plasma centers situate. We geocode locations of all U.S. commercial plasma centers and merge with census tract demographic data from the American Community Survey. Findings indicate greater odds that plasma centers will locate in urban tracts with high rates of deep poverty, poverty, and near poverty. There is a bivariate association with high percent- ages of residents identifying as Black and Hispanic. These findings indicate a clear interrelationship between persistent economic hardship and the raw material sustaining a major healthcare industry. Keywords: Plasma, Poverty, Racial Disparities, Inequality Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare . June, 2021 * Volume XLVIII * Number 2 56