2005 Poverty Research Small Grants
Funded research
Racial and Ethnic Inequality in Children's Exposure to Neighborhood Poverty and Affluence.
Jeffrey M. Timberlake, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Cincinnati.
Description
Specific Aims. I propose to investigate inequality between White, Black, and Hispanic children in (1) the duration of exposure to neighborhood poverty and affluence throughout childhood; and (2) neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) before and after a residential move.
Justification. Social scientists have focused much recent attention on the effects of neighborhood characteristics on children's well-being. The proposed study is concerned with racial and ethnic inequality in the duration of children's exposure to neighborhood poverty, and on the mechanisms that produce and reproduce this inequality. Duration of exposure is important because effects of neighborhood characteristics on children likely occur via sustained exposure to risks and opportunities.
Data and methods. Data will come from the 1970 to 2000 Panel Study of Income Dynamics, merged with tract-level data from the 1970 to 2000 U.S. Censuses. For Aim 1, I propose to estimate inequality in the amount of time children can expect to live in poor and nonpoor neighborhoods throughout childhood. For Aim 2, I propose to estimate effects of household- and metropolitan area-level characteristics on children's neighborhood SES prior to and following a residential move.
Policy significance. The policy significance of the proposed research derives from its emphasis on poverty as a contextual phenomenon. That is, poverty historically has been conceptualized as a household-level characteristic, with corresponding household-level policy solutions. The proposed research assumes that neighborhood poverty has effects on child outcomes, and therefore requires neighborhood-level policy solutions. Examples of such policies would include greater investment in educational and employment opportunities, and increased incentives and penalties to reduce levels of racial and ethnic residential segregation.
