Place-Based Poverty, Social Experimentation, and Child Outcomes: A Report of Mixed Effects

Abstract

In the past two decades, a host of non-experimental and quasi-experimental studies have been conducted on how neighborhoods affect child and family well-being and social status. The federal Moving to Opportunity (MTO) program is the most important ongoing demonstration in American housing policy on the effects of neighborhood upon the life chances and futures of children and adults who had previously lived in low income public housing projects. Research indicates positive impacts upon the neighborhood contexts, their levels of fear and sense of security, and upon a range of major behavioral outcomes. Gender differences appear significant but are currently unexplained. A new phase of qualitative research currently underway is described as the next stage in this longitudinal panel study of neighborhoods' effects on poor children.