Researchers report that neighborhood environments can predict the future social mobility of some children. Growing up in disadvantaged neighborhoods affects social mobility later in life, but the specific factors that shape social mobility remain largely unexplored. Using a sample of around 230,000 individuals, Robert Manduca and Robert J. Sampson examined neighborhood environment data provided by the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, as well as the census, health, and income tax records of parents and children from Chicago. The authors found that exposure to environments that are harmful to child development, namely environments with high levels of lead, incarceration, and violence, predicts adult income relative to that of parents as well as other aspects of well-being, independent of neighborhood poverty. The greater the extent to which poor black male children were exposed to harsh environments, the higher their chances of being incarcerated in adulthood and the lower their adult incomes. Similar adulthood income patterns emerged for poor white children. Moreover, increased exposure to harsh childhood environments predicted increased rates of teen pregnancy among both poor black and white females. Chicago's racial segregation disproportionately exposes black residents to neighborhoods that are harmful to mental and physical health. Reforming the criminal justice system and maintaining neighborhood health by reducing violence and toxic pollutants may help increase social mobility, according to the authors.
Article # 18-20464: "Punishing and toxic neighborhood environments independently predict the intergenerational social mobility of black and white children," by Robert Manduca and Robert J. Sampson.
MEDIA CONTACT: Robert J. Sampson, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; tel: 617-496-9716; email: rsampson@wjh.harvard.edu
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences