John Iceland

Beyond Black and White: Metropolitan residential segregation in multi-ethnic America

Abstract Whether greater racial and ethnic diversity in the United States is being accompanied by greater integration remains unclear. This analysis examines segregation in the multi-ethnic context over the 1980–2000 period by using the multi-race information theory index (H), which simultaneously takes the presence of many groups into account, and by also looking at the segregation of each group separately. Results indicate that segregation has been decreasing, mainly due to declines in African American segregation and White segregation with little change or slight increases in Asian and Hispanic segregation. Growing diversity was associated with increases in overall segregation, White segregation, Hispanic segregation, and Asian segregation, though strongly associated with declines in Black segregation. For Hispanics and Asians, it was the growth in Hispanic and Asian and Pacific Islander populations, respectively, that were associated with increases in segregation, suggesting that this population growth likely buttressed ethnic enclaves.

Hypersegregation in the twenty-first century

We used metropolitan-level data from the 2000 U.S. census to analyze the hypersegregation of four groups from whites: blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans. While blacks were hypersegregated in 29 metropolitan areas and Hispanics were hypersegregated in 2, Asians and Native Americans were not hypersegregated in any. There were declines in the number of metropolitan areas with black hypersegregation, although levels of segregation experienced by blacks remained significantly higher than those of the other groups, even after a number of factors were controlled. Indeed, although socioeconomic differences among the groups explain some of the difference in residential patterns more generally, they have little association with hypersegregation in particular, indicating the overarching salience of race in shaping residential patterns in these highly divided metropolitan areas.

Immigrant residential segregation in U.S. metropolitan areas, 1990-2000.

This paper examines the extent of spatial assimilation among immigrants of different racial and ethnic origins. We use restricted data from the 1990 and 2000 censuses to calculate the levels of dissimilarity by race and Hispanic origin, nativity, and year of entry, and then run multivariate models to examine these relationships. The findings provide broad support for spatial assimilation theory. Foreign-born Hispanics, Asians, and blacks are more segregated from native-born non-Hispanic whites than are the U.S.-born of these groups. The patterns for Hispanics and Asians can be explained by the average characteristics of the foreign-born that are generally associated with higher levels of segregation, such as lower levels of income, English language ability, and homeownership. We also find that immigrants who have been in the United States for longer periods are generally less segregated than new arrivals, and once again, much of this difference can be attributed to the characteristics of immigrants. However, patterns also vary across groups. Levels of segregation are much higher for black immigrants than for Asian, Hispanic, and white immigrants. In addition, because black immigrants are, on average, of higher socioeconomic status than native-born blacks, such characteristics do not help explain their very high levels of segregation.

Why Poverty Remains High: The Role of Income Growth, Economic Inequality, and Changes in Family Structure, 1949-1999

After dramatic declines in poverty from 1950 to the early 1970s in the United States, progress stalled. This article examines the association between trends in poverty and income growth, economic inequality, and changes in family structure using three measures of poverty: an absolute measure, a relative measure, and a quasi-relative one. I found that income growth explains most of the trend in absolute poverty, while inequality generally plays the most significant role in explaining trends in relative poverty. Rising inequality in the 1970s and 1980s was especially important in explaining increases in poverty among Hispanics, whereas changes in family structure played a significant role for children and African Americans through 1990. Notably, changes in family structure no longer had a significant association with trends in poverty for any group in the 1990s.

Change in Racial and Ethnic Residential Inequality in American Cities, 1970–2000

We complement and extend research on change in racial and ethnic residential segregation by estimating determinants of change from 1970 to 2000 in four measures of residential inequality—dissimilarity, entropy, isolation, and net difference—between American Whites, Blacks, Asians, and Latinos. Because we use a longer time horizon and multiple measures, our findings clearly demonstrate some convergence in residential location patterns across groups, indicating gradual spatial assimilation in U.S. metropolitan areas. Although Blacks continue to be more segregated than either Asians or Latinos, residential inequality has declined more rapidly for Blacks than for the other two groups, particularly in terms of neighborhood socioeconomic status. We also find that all three groups, but particularly Asians, have been converting income gains relative to Whites into improved neighborhood socioeconomic status more than into increased residential integration with Whites.

Urban labor markets and individual transitions out of poverty

Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the U.S. census, I examine the effect of four structural characteristics on individual poverty exits: (1) economic restructuring, (2) skills mismatches, (3) racial residential segregation, and (4) welfare benefit levels. Results show that these factors play a role in explaining African Americans’ economic disadvantages, but they have a weaker and often contrary impact on whites’ poverty exits. Overall, the differing impact of the contextual characteristics on African Americans and whites exacerbates social stratification and illustrates racial divisions that continue to pervade the labor market.

White Residential Segregation in U.S. Metropolitan Areas: Conceptual Issues, Patterns, and Trends from the U.S. Census, 1980 to 2010

Racial and ethnic diversity continues to spread to communities across the United States. Rather than focus on the residential patterns of specific minority or immigrant groups, this study examines changing patterns of White residential segregation in metropolitan America. Using data from the 1980 to 2010 decennial censuses, we calculate levels of White segregation using two common measures, analyze the effect of defining the White population in different ways, and, drawing upon the group threat theoretical perspective, we examine the metropolitan correlates of White segregation. We find that White segregation from others declined significantly from 1980 to 2010, regardless of the measure of segregation or the White population used. However, we find some evidence consistent with the group threat perspective, as White dissimilarity is higher in metro areas that are more diverse, and especially those with larger Black populations. Nevertheless, our findings indicate that Whites having been living in increasingly integrated neighborhoods over the last few decades, suggesting some easing of the historical color line.

Poverty among Working Families: New Insights from an Improved Poverty Measure

Objective. This article examines poverty among working families with children using a refined experimental poverty measure based on recommendations by the National Academy of Sciences Panel on Poverty and Family Assistance. Methods. Using data from the 1998 Current Population Survey, this research constructs an experimental poverty measure that takes into account noncash government benefits as well as job-related expenses, elements not included in the current official measure of family income. Results. We find that current statistics based on the official poverty line understate the extent of economic hardship, particularly among full-time working families with children, because expenses, such as child care costs, tend to outweigh noncash benefits, such as food stamps, that these families may receive. Furthermore, without the recent expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, poverty among full-time working families would be even higher. Conclusions. These findings highlight challenges faced by many families, especially those with adults moving off welfare and into the labor market.

The Residential Segregation of Mixed-Nativity Married Couples

This article examines the ways in which mixed-nativity marriage is related to spatial assimilation in metropolitan areas of the United States. Specifically, we examine the residential patterns of households with a mixed-nativity—and, in some cases, interracial—marriage to determine whether they are less segregated from the native-born than entirely foreign-born households. Using restricted-use data from the 2000 census, we find that compared with couples in which both spouses are foreign-born, mixed-nativity couples tend to be less segregated from various native-born racial and ethnic groups. Further, among both foreign-born Asians and Hispanics, those with a native-born non-Hispanic white spouse are considerably less segregated from native-born white households than from other foreign-born Asian and Hispanic households. We also find that even though nativity status matters for black couples in a manner consistent with assimilation theory, foreign-born and mixed-nativity black households still each display very high levels of segregation from all other native-born racial/ethnic groups, reaffirming the power of race in determining residential patterns. Overall, our findings provide moderate support for spatial assimilation theory and suggest that cross-nativity marriages often facilitate the residential integration of the foreign-born.

Ethnic residential segregation by nativity in Great Britain and the United States

ABSTRACT: This study examines patterns of ethnic residential integration in Great Britain and the United States. Using data from 2000/2001 censuses from these two countries, we compute segregation indexes for comparably defined ethnic groups by nativity and for specific foreign-born groups. We find that blacks are much less segregated in Great Britain than in the United States, and black segregation patterns by nativity tend to be consistent with spatial assimilation in the former country (the foreign-born are more segregated than the native-born) but not in the latter. Among Asian groups, however, segregation tends to be lower in the United States, and segregation patterns by nativity are more consistent with spatial assimilation in the United States but not in Great Britain. These findings suggest that intergenerational minority disadvantage persists among blacks in the United States and among Asians in Great Britain. We caution, however, that there are important differences in levels of segregation among specific foreign-born Asian groups, suggesting that assimilation trajectories likely differ by country of origin. Finally, the fact that segregation levels are considerably higher in the United States for a majority of groups, including white foreign-born groups, suggests that factors not solely related to race or physical appearance drive higher levels of ethnic residential segregation in the United States.