08-03-2016, 07:22 PM
Edit:
SHit, sorry. Forgot the Harvard study was that damn long. Page 44:
The fraction of children living in single-parent households is the strongest correlate of upward
income mobility among all the variables we explored, with a raw unweighted correlation of -0.76
(see Online Appendix Figure VIIa for the corresponding non-parametric binned scatter plot). One
natural explanation for this spatial correlation is an individual-level e ect: children raised by a
single parent may have worse outcomes than those raised by two parents (e.g., Thomas and Sawhill
2002, Lamb 2004). To test whether this individual-level e ect drives the spatial correlation, we
calculate upward mobility in each CZ based only on the subsample of children whose own parents
are married. The correlation between upward mobility and the fraction of single parents in their
CZ remains at -0.66 even in this subgroup (Online Appendix Figure VIIb). Hence, family structure
correlates with upward mobility not just at the individual level but also at the community level,
perhaps because the stability of the social environment a ects children's outcomes more broadly.
The association between mobility and family structure at the community level echoes our ndings
in Section V.A on the community-level e ects of racial shares.
SHit, sorry. Forgot the Harvard study was that damn long. Page 44:
The fraction of children living in single-parent households is the strongest correlate of upward
income mobility among all the variables we explored, with a raw unweighted correlation of -0.76
(see Online Appendix Figure VIIa for the corresponding non-parametric binned scatter plot). One
natural explanation for this spatial correlation is an individual-level e ect: children raised by a
single parent may have worse outcomes than those raised by two parents (e.g., Thomas and Sawhill
2002, Lamb 2004). To test whether this individual-level e ect drives the spatial correlation, we
calculate upward mobility in each CZ based only on the subsample of children whose own parents
are married. The correlation between upward mobility and the fraction of single parents in their
CZ remains at -0.66 even in this subgroup (Online Appendix Figure VIIb). Hence, family structure
correlates with upward mobility not just at the individual level but also at the community level,
perhaps because the stability of the social environment a ects children's outcomes more broadly.
The association between mobility and family structure at the community level echoes our ndings
in Section V.A on the community-level e ects of racial shares.
