Segregation, the concentration of poverty, and the life chances of individuals

Douglas S. Massey; Andrew B. Gross; Mitchell L. Eggers

doi:10.1016/0049-089X(91)90020-4

Segregation, the concentration of poverty, and the life chances of individuals

Douglas S. Massey, Andrew B. Gross, Mitchell L. Eggers

Princeton School of Public and International Affairs

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

203 Scopus citations

Abstract

We outline a theoretical model that identifies residential segregation as a primary structural cause of the geographic concentration of poverty in U.S. urban areas. From this theory we specify and estimate a multilevel equation that links minority poverty and segregation within metropolitan areas to the concentration of socioeconomic deprivation within neighborhoods. We then estimate a second set of multilevel equations that connect neighborhood poverty rates to individual-level outcomes commonly associated with the underclass: male joblessness, teenage motherhood, and single parenthood. Our results link economic and social structures at the metropolitan level to individual outcomes that operate to perpetuate poverty and lead to the creation of the underclass.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	397-420
Number of pages	24
Journal	Social Science Research
Volume	20
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/0049-089X(91)90020-4
State	Published - Dec 1991

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Education
Sociology and Political Science

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abstract = "We outline a theoretical model that identifies residential segregation as a primary structural cause of the geographic concentration of poverty in U.S. urban areas. From this theory we specify and estimate a multilevel equation that links minority poverty and segregation within metropolitan areas to the concentration of socioeconomic deprivation within neighborhoods. We then estimate a second set of multilevel equations that connect neighborhood poverty rates to individual-level outcomes commonly associated with the underclass: male joblessness, teenage motherhood, and single parenthood. Our results link economic and social structures at the metropolitan level to individual outcomes that operate to perpetuate poverty and lead to the creation of the underclass.",

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N2 - We outline a theoretical model that identifies residential segregation as a primary structural cause of the geographic concentration of poverty in U.S. urban areas. From this theory we specify and estimate a multilevel equation that links minority poverty and segregation within metropolitan areas to the concentration of socioeconomic deprivation within neighborhoods. We then estimate a second set of multilevel equations that connect neighborhood poverty rates to individual-level outcomes commonly associated with the underclass: male joblessness, teenage motherhood, and single parenthood. Our results link economic and social structures at the metropolitan level to individual outcomes that operate to perpetuate poverty and lead to the creation of the underclass.

AB - We outline a theoretical model that identifies residential segregation as a primary structural cause of the geographic concentration of poverty in U.S. urban areas. From this theory we specify and estimate a multilevel equation that links minority poverty and segregation within metropolitan areas to the concentration of socioeconomic deprivation within neighborhoods. We then estimate a second set of multilevel equations that connect neighborhood poverty rates to individual-level outcomes commonly associated with the underclass: male joblessness, teenage motherhood, and single parenthood. Our results link economic and social structures at the metropolitan level to individual outcomes that operate to perpetuate poverty and lead to the creation of the underclass.

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Segregation, the concentration of poverty, and the life chances of individuals

Abstract

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