Table 4. Poisson estimation of relative rates of bodies being unclaimed by migration histories and immigration characteristics 1996–2013.

(relative ratios)		Model 5	Model 6	Model 7
Migration/Immigration
Proportion moved to California within 12 months1		0.66	6.17	1.61
Proportion immigrant2		0.51***	0.78	0.43***
Proportion non-US Citizen3		2.15***	2.05*	2.62***
Sex interactions (reference = female)
	Male x recently moved to CA		0.06
	Male x immigrant		0.59*
	Male x non-US Citizen		1.12
Race interactions (reference = white)
	African American x recently moved to CA			0.47
	African American x immigrant			1.63
	African American x non-US Citizen			0.94
	Other x recently moved to CA			0.020
	Other x immigrant			0.87
	Other x non-US Citizen			0.45
Family and Economic Characteristics
Proportion never married		1.250	1.29	1.25
Proportion divorced/separated		0.85	0.93	0.81
Proportion living away from family4		1.09	1.08	1.07
Proportion unemployed5		2.66***	2.42**	2.69***
Proportion living in poverty6		1.33	1.32	1.35
Demographic Characteristics
Female		(reference)
Male		1.71***	2.05***	1.72***
White		(reference)
African American		1.28***	1.30***	1.19*
Other		0.34***	0.33***	0.52
15–19		(reference)
20–24		4.16***	4.20***	4.13***
25–34		10.79***	10.89***	10.81***
35–44		22.52***	22.76***	23.04***
45–54		29.22***	29.64***	30.22***
55–64		27.74***	28.20***	28.93***
65–74		20.38***	20.82***	21.62***
75–84		11.53***	11.96***	12.22***
85+		6.91***	7.34***	7.27***
Year = 1996		(reference)
Year = 1999		0.97	0.98	0.99
Year = 2003		1.11*	1.10*	1.12**
Year = 2006		1.27***	1.26***	1.28***
Year = 2009		1.45***	1.45***	1.47***
Year = 2013		1.28***	1.28***	1.31***
Observations		305	305	305
Pseudo R-squared		0.75	0.75	0.75

* p < .05,

** p < .01, and

*** p < .001

Poisson models use total deaths in each sex-race-age-year category as the exposure to unclaimed deaths. Family and economic characteristics are aggregated by each sex-race-age-year category. Relative ratios represent the multiplicative increase in the risk of being unclaimed associated with one unit increase in the covariate. For continuous family and economic covariates, one unit increase is equivalent to proportions increasing from 0 to 1. Analysis is limited to non-veteran civilians aged 15 and above. Data only available for years ending in 3, 6, and 9. Immigration-related variables are only available for years 1996 onwards. Data sources: Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) of the Current Population Survey 1996–2013; Center for Disease Control (CDC) Mortality file 1996–2013; Los Angeles County Office of Decedent Affairs (LACODA) unclaimed bodies (1996–2013). Model 5 includes migration/immigration variables and controls for family, economic, and demographic characteristics. Model 6 adds sex interactions to Model 5, and Model 7 adds race interactions to Model 5.

¹ Defined as people who lived in another state or country 12 months prior to survey date.

² Defined as people who were not born as US citizens.

³ Does not include naturalized citizens.

⁴ Defined as people who are living in households without a person related by blood or marriage.

⁵ Does not include people who are not in the labor force.

⁶ Defined as people whose household incomes fall below the 100% Federal Poverty Level (FPL).