State minimum wage laws and state-level rates of new HIV diagnoses among Black, Latine, and White US women and men, 2010–2019

Bibliographic Data

ID11177948
AuthorsD Zubizarreta (0000-0003-2098-6404, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, corresponding author), Jarvis T Chen (0000-0002-7412-1783, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA), Ariel L Beccia (0000-0002-6617-7031, Boston Children's Hospital), B Austin (0000-0002-0830-5293, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA), S Bryn Austin, Zinzi D Bailey (0000-0002-5708-3754, University of Minnesota), Zinzi Bailey (Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA), Scott Burri (0000-0002-6013-5842, Temple University Beasley School of Law), Lindsay Cloud (Temple University Beasley School of Law), Madina Agénor (0000-0001-6675-8891, Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Department of Epidemiology, and Center for Health Promotion and Health Equity, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, Rhode Island, USA)
Year2026
Volume80
Issue2
Pages122-128
Publication date2026-02-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Epidemiology and Community Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0143-005X • E-ISSN: 1470-2738
PublisherBMJ (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1136/jech-2025-224120
PMID41136195
OpenAlexW4415497975
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited32

BACKGROUND: In the USA, HIV remains a pressing public health challenge (~37 400 new diagnoses in 2018) and pronounced racialised inequities persist. In 2018, Black and Latine people represented 43% and 26% of new diagnoses but only 13% and 18% of the population, respectively. Antiracist laws may help mitigate these inequities, yet research investigating specific laws is lacking. This study aimed to examine associations between state minimum wage laws and new HIV diagnosis rates by racialised group and sex/gender. METHODS: We linked data on inflation-adjusted state minimum wage and state-level new HIV diagnosis rates among US adults aged 13-59 years. We fit two-way fixed-effects models to examine associations between changes in minimum wage and changes in new HIV diagnosis rates per 100 000 people from 2010 to 2019 by racialised group (Black/Latine/White) and sex/gender (women/men). Additional analyses tested for effect heterogeneity by racialised group and by sex/gender within racialised group. RESULTS: Findings show an inverse association between state minimum wage and new HIV diagnosis rates across all racialised and sex/gender groups, except White women. Among Black adults, a 1 US Dollar ($) increase in state minimum wage was associated with a 5.81 per 100 000 decrease in new HIV diagnosis rate, followed by Latine (2.81/100 000) and White adults (1.50/100 000). The inverse association was larger among Latine (4.73/100 000) and White men (2.88/100 000) than Latine (0.98/100 000) and White women (0.07/100 000), respectively. There was no evidence of effect heterogeneity comparing Black men to Black women. CONCLUSIONS: State minimum wage laws may represent a critical policy intervention to address racialised HIV inequities

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) · Intervention (counseling) · Medical diagnosis · Minimum wage · State (computer science) · Wage · White (mutation) · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Racial and Ethnic Identity Research

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