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Uplifting community voice

Employment and maternal and child health

About this project

Community voice recognizes the experiences of people most affected by policies or programs and actively engages them as experts. Uplifting the voices of people with lived experience provides an important perspective and valuable insight on the needs, concerns, goals and aspirations of the community.

Advancing equity requires extending and sharing power with community members and HPIO is grateful to the people who shared their voices and contributed to this project.

Earlier this year, HPIO released the first fact sheet in this project, Uplifting Community Voice: Housing and Health 

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Overview of this fact sheet

This fact sheet highlights employment policies that support maternal and infant health, using the city of Cincinnati as a case study. The Health Policy Institute of Ohio (HPIO) interviewed two city of Cincinnati leaders, Latisha Hazell, Human Resources Director, and Laura Castillo, Director of the Department of Economic Inclusion.

Policies outlined in the brief are important because they empower individuals and parents, enhance job opportunities and have been demonstrated to improve birth outcomes. By implementing a living wage initiative and an updated parental leave policy, Cincinnati has championed evidence-based practices designed to increase equity and foster a supportive work environment for city employees and contractors.

“Employment can support health and reduce infant mortality when it provides access to a living wage, resources and benefits such as health insurance and paid leave,” the report found. “On the other hand, research indicates that unemployment during pregnancy is linked to lower birth weights and higher infant mortality rates. Working parents are essential contributors to Ohio’s economy. When their jobs support their ability to provide stable housing, high-quality child care and healthy food to their families, all Ohioans benefit.”

By:

Robin Blair-Ackison, MPH

Tonni Oberly, PhD, MPH

Published On

October 21, 2024

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Focus Areas