Thomas P. Vartanian

Do neighborhood conditions affect high school dropout and college graduation rates

Abstract This article estimates the effects of neighborhood conditions on the educational attainment of young people. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to measure the background characteristics of young people and their educational attainment at age 25 and the U.S. Census to describe the characteristics of the neighborhoods in which respondents lived between ages 14 and 18, the paper estimates neighborhood effects separately for blacks and whites and tests for nonlinearities and important interactions in these effects. We find that neighborhood characteristics influence educational attainment among young people, but do so differently for black and white youth. Among black youth, growing up in neighborhoods with wealthier residents, more two parent families, and a greater percentage of workers in professional or managerial occupations leads to a substantial decrease in the high school dropout rate. These neighborhood characteristics do not affect the probability of graduating from college, however. Neighborhood effects among black youth occur primarily among those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Among white youth, neighborhood conditions positively affect the probability of graduating from college but do not significantly affect the high school dropout rate. These effects are concentrated among those from relatively advantaged backgrounds.

Adolescent Neighborhood Effects on Labor Market and Economic Outcomes

Using linked data from the U.S. Census and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), I examine how adolescent conditions affect young adult labor market and economic outcomes. A number of theories are examined, including the welfare theory; several neighborhood theories, including the social isolation and epidemic theories; and an economic theory. The results indicate that adolescent neighborhood conditions have strong effects. The results support the social isolation hypothesis and the epidemic theory of neighborhoods. Findings for adult labor income, wages, and income‐to‐needs indicate that adolescents living in the most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods had far lower levels of these outcome variables than adolescents living in only slightly more advantaged neighborhoods. The results for adolescent neighborhood conditions supported the social isolation hypothesis for time spent living below the poverty line for adults. The results also give support to both the welfare and economic models. Adolescents growing up in families that receive welfare income worked fewer hours and had less labor income as adults than did those adolescents who did not receive welfare income. Adolescent poverty and overall levels of income also strongly affect adult labor market outcomes.

Intergenerational Neighborhood-Type Mobility: Examining Differences between Blacks and Whites

Using sibling data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics linked with US Census data, this paper examines the intergenerational nature of neighborhood quality. It is hypothesized that the quality of where one resides as an adult is a function of ones childhood neighborhood through the conditioning and constraining of adult residential choice. Further, it is posited that this relationship varies by race and is stronger for those living in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods, especially blacks. Descriptively, the study finds that childhood neighborhood conditions of black and white children are vastly different. Few whites live in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods, and few blacks live in the most advantaged neighborhoods. The sibling fixed effect regression results confirm the hypothesis that childhood neighborhood disadvantage has negative effects on adult neighborhood quality for those living in the lowest quality, race-specific neighborhoods.

Early factors leading to college graduation for Asians and non-Asians in the United States

This article explores factors that lead Asian Americans, both as a group and as subgroups, to obtain a college degree in comparison to members of other racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Using data from the 2000 wave of the National Education Longitudinal Study, we find that the effects of race on educational attainment virtually disappear once individual and family factors are controlled. However, there is significant heterogeneity in college attainment among Asian Americans. In addition, we find that the effects of socioeconomic status, parental expectations, eighth-grade grade point average, and family structure are generally weaker for Asian Americans relative to non-Asians while parental immigrant status and standardized test scores are stronger. Asians appear to be “protected” from many of the usual factors that negatively affect educational outcomes while receiving an enhanced benefit from being of an immigrant family.

Neighborhood Effects on AFDC Exits: Examining the Social Isolation, Relative Deprivation, and Epidemic Theories

Linking data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics with the 1970 and 1980 censuses, the author finds that, in accordance with the social isolation theory, neighborhood conditions greatly affect the likelihood of exiting the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Neighborhood conditions are especially strong predictors of leaving the program for African Americans, high school dropouts, and for those who marry. Members of each of these groups stay on welfare significantly longer when they live in the most economically depressed neighborhoods or neighborhoods with a relatively high proportion of manufacturing relative to professional and executive workers. I test two additional theories of neighborhood effects: relative deprivation and epidemic theories.

The Effects of Childhood Neighborhood Conditions on Self-reports of Adult Health

Studies have shown that neighborhood conditions and experiences may individually or collectively impact health. Using 38 years of longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), we clarify the relationship between child and adult neighborhood quality and self-reported adult health, using sibling fixed effects models. Overall, we find support for positive long-term health effects, both for growing up in affluent neighborhoods and for growing up in neighborhoods where one is surrounded by comparative advantage. Relative to childhood neighborhood factors, adult neighborhoods have little to no effect in almost every model specification. We find mixed evidence, as well, that these relationships are stronger for nonwhites than for whites. Our findings suggest that childhood is a critical point for intervention in the long-term health effects of residential conditions.

Locational effects on AFDC exits: Examining local labor markets

Abstract Recent welfare reform limits welfare recipients to a maximum of five years of cash assistance. This policy change raises the question of whether it is reasonable to expect welfare recipients to be able to leave the rolls within a five year period, regardless of the economic conditions of the state or area in which they live. This article pursues this issue by examining the effects of economic conditions and residential location on a welfare recipient’s likelihood of leaving welfare over time. The analysis uses linked files from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the 1970 and 1980 U.S. Censuses, and County and City Data Book data from 1972 to 1994 to determine AFDC exit probabilities. The results indicate that being low-skilled and living within one of the largest U.S. cities dramatically decreases the likelihood of exit from AFDC via increased earnings. The results also show that the job loss within cities has a significant negative impact on AFDC exit probabilities for marriage, increased earnings and all exits for high school dropouts and African American AFDC recipients. However, including city employment variables did not decrease the negative effects of living within large northern cities for earnings exits. These results indicate that negative economic conditions and poor transportation within cities impede low-skilled AFDC recipients from increasing earnings and leaving welfare.

The Effects of Childhood SNAP Use and Neighborhood Conditions on Adult Body Mass Index

The disproportionate number of individuals who are obese or overweight in the low-income U.S. population has raised interest in the influence of neighborhood conditions and public assistance programs on weight and health. Generally, neighborhood effects and program participation effects have been explored in separate studies. We unite these two areas of inquiry, using the 1968–2005 Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to examine the long-term effects of childhood Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation, neighborhood conditions, and the interaction of these two, on adult body mass index (BMI). Using sibling fixed-effects models to account for selection bias, we find that relative to children in other low-income families, children in SNAP-recipient households have higher average adult BMI values. However, the effects of childhood SNAP usage are sensitive to both residential neighborhood and age at receipt. For those growing up in advantaged neighborhoods, projected adult BMI is higher for children in SNAP-recipient households than for children in low-income, nonrecipient households. In contrast, for those growing up in less-advantaged areas, adult BMI differences between children in SNAP-recipient and those in low-income, nonrecipient households are small. SNAP usage during preschool years (0 to 4) has no impact on adult BMI scores. However, at later childhood ages, the time elapsed receiving SNAP income increases adult BMI values relative to a condition of low-income nonreceipt.