Neighborhoods that provide children with improved access to superior resources, reduced crime rates, and lower levels of violence often pave the way for enhanced prospects of a healthier and more prosperous life. Indeed, scholars examining the impact of residing in “opportunity neighborhoods” reinforce this viewpoint, capturing the attention of numerous policymakers.
However, existing research has thus far only accounted for the neighborhoods in which children grow up, neglecting the enduring influence of parents’ childhood neighborhoods on the economic well-being of their offspring in adulthood.
Undue influence
Expanding upon the relatively limited scope of short-term, single-generation studies, the research from the University of Notre Dame delves into a comprehensive analysis spanning 35 years of data derived from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, encompassing the period from 1979 to 2014. Their objective was to investigate the outcomes when successive generations of Black, white, and Latino families resided on contrasting sides of the socioeconomic spectrum.
Somewhat surprisingly, the researchers observed that Black families, regardless of their place of residence, consistently found themselves in similar economic circumstances as they transitioned into adulthood and embarked upon their professional careers.
Based on their study, the researchers concluded that race emerged as the primary factor influencing one’s economic attainment in the United States across multiple generations.
Race trumps class
“Any benefits accrued by growing up in more advantaged neighborhoods may be undercut by enhanced discrimination in the labor market and society at large,” the researchers explain. “Race, not class origins, is the dominant factor governing the economic mobility of Black individuals.”
The researchers argue that neighborhood mobility doesn’t seem to work so well for Blacks in the US as it does for either whites or Latinos and certainly not in terms of economic development.
“When comparing Black families who were exposed to multiple generations of neighborhood disadvantage versus Black families who were not, they both end up having the same economic outcomes in adulthood,” they explain. “Race still trumps class origins in America when it comes to the labor market.”
A fresh approach
In a departure from previous studies on the impact of neighborhood dynamics on economic outcomes, the researchers employed an innovative approach that examined intergenerational associations instead of focusing solely on a single generation.
By establishing connections between exposure to neighborhood adversity during both the mothers’ and children’s childhoods, and the subsequent adult income of the children, the study aimed to provide a more comprehensive understanding of neighborhood influence and the formation and perpetuation of inequality over time.
Leveraging the wealth of data from longitudinal surveys, the researchers were able to establish links between neighborhood conditions and economic outcomes spanning multiple generations, encompassing white, Latino, and Black families.
Income growth
One particularly noteworthy discovery highlighted by the researchers was the notable growth in adult earnings experienced by Latino families. These findings suggest that Latinos, particularly non-Black Latinos, are likely to reap greater long-term economic benefits than their white or Black counterparts upon being removed from disadvantaged neighborhoods.
“There’s definitely a lot more room for neighborhood-level opportunity to manifest into economic success for Latinos than for Blacks,” the researchers explain.
What’s more, they believe that the income of Black residents is largely immune regardless of whether the family moves to a good or bad neighborhood.
“Moving Blacks to better neighborhoods could procure positive outcomes—such as improved cognitive development and behavior and decreased illicit drug use during childhood and adolescence,” they conclude. “But once it gets to the labor market, it’s a whole different story.”
