Social scientists refer to the gender ratio of male adults to female adults as the Adult Sex Ratio (ASR) and racial disparities of the ASR are well-documented in research literature.
For both Whites and Blacks, more males tend to be born than females, although blacks (ASR at birth: 102.9) have a lower prevalence than whites (ASR at birth: 105.1). Starting from birth, other socio-economic factors contribute to higher mortality among Black males. Contributing factors include:
- Excess deaths due to infant mortality from stress related to poverty and discrimination;
- Later in life, homicide becomes the leading killer of young Black men;
- Black men are also disproportionally victims of mass incarceration.
In the District, census tracts with a plurality of Black residents have a ASR average value of 84.4 males to every 100 females (55.1% female) while mostly White census tracts have 93.7 males to every 100 females (52.3% female).
