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- Title
INEQUALITY OF PLACE AND SOCIAL MOBILITY IN THE UNITED STATES: LOW- AND HIGH-OPPORTUNITY STATES.
- Authors
Eppard, Lawrence M.; Okum, Troy S.; Everidge, Lucas
- Abstract
This study examines the association between inequality of place and adult outcomes in the United States, with a specific focus on social mobility. Using U.S. Census Bureau data as well as anonymous federal tax return data for over 20 million Americans, we examined the relationship between county of origin characteristics and adult outcomes for low-income men raised there. These outcomes included not only social mobility, but also college graduation, household income, incarceration, and marriage. We focused on low-income men (born between 1978-1983, raised in households at the 25th income percentile, and tracked into their mid-thirties) for this analysis in order to see the differences in difficulty in achieving success coming from a lowincome household across different U.S. states. All of the origin county characteristics examined (college graduation rate, median household income, job growth rate, percentage population Black, poverty rate, single parenthood rate, and social capital) were associated with low-income men's adult outcomes. When ranking U.S. states, we found very different chances for upward mobility for low-income men across the country, with about a quarter reaching the top 20 percent in household income in high-opportunity North Dakota, but only 4 percent achieving such mobility in South Carolina. Our analysis showed that the seven aforementioned county characteristics were much more advantageous in North Dakota compared to South Carolina, which plausibly helps explain some of the differences in opportunity between these states. Additionally, anonymous qualitative data from phone interviews we conducted with five county council members from some of the South Carolina counties that struggled the most in our analysis (bottom ten in upward mobility) reinforced these quantitative findings.
- Subjects
UNITED States; SOCIAL mobility; U.S. Census Bureau; POOR people; SOCIAL classes; INCOME
- Publication
Sociological Viewpoints, 2020, Vol 34, Issue 1, p76
- ISSN
1060-0876
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.26908/3412020_014