Abstract

AbstractThis paper finds convincing evidence of upward progress out of poor Swedish neighbourhoods for individuals with a Swedish background, individuals with a European background, and those with a non‐European background. We use the 1986 cohort of the Swedish population and follow them from age 15 when they are living at home to age 30. We find that by age 30, they live in a neighbourhood that in terms of the poverty level is relatively distant from the initial neighbourhood where they grew up. Mobility into less poor neighbourhoods is clearly linked to higher income, but interestingly, initial context is even more important. Mobility to less poor neighbourhoods is found for those starting in high‐poverty neighbourhoods and vice versa for those starting in low‐poverty neighbourhoods. Moreover, large‐scale context and regional context strongly influence neighbourhood mobility along the poverty gradient. The analysis shows that a large proportion of individuals with a non‐European background improve their neighbourhood status from where they were living as teenagers, to where they live after leaving home. Individuals who stay in the poorest neighbourhoods come from less favourable backgrounds, from large‐scale poverty contexts, have low school grades, tend to have children early, and have low incomes and lower educational attainment. Individuals with a non‐European background are overrepresented in this group. Thus, despite the overall gains in neighbourhood quality, the process of spatial sorting still contributes to an increased spatial concentration of vulnerable populations.

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