Income-related Gaps Research Articles

How far I’ll go: Social infrastructure accessibility and proximity in urban neighborhoods

Recent studies have shown that social infrastructure – community spaces, places of worship, social businesses, and parks – help build social ties, mitigate political polarization, and improve our health. This exploratory study examines why some areas in American cities see greater access to social infrastructure than others, applying geospatial models and city block analyses to the case of Boston. We hypothesize that neighborhoods of color and lower-income neighborhoods might see lower levels of access to social infrastructure, which have significant implications for the health and resilience of these neighborhoods. Using analyses of proximity on a large-N dataset of (1) all social infrastructure sites in Boston and (2) every building in Boston, we measure the distance between every building and social infrastructure site in the city, and model the associations of neighborhood demographics, socioeconomic status, and urban design factors on median distance from social infrastructure. Finally, we demonstrate findings using hyperlocal case studies of 3 iconic city blocks in Boston, examining Back Bay, Nubian Square, and Mount Bowdoin. We find evidence of strong race- and income-related gaps in access to social infrastructure, consistent even after extended controls for demographics and physical infrastructure traits, highlighting major inequities in social policy.

Income inequality and opinion expression gap in the American public: an analysis of policy priorities

AbstractPast scholarship has documented that the poor are more likely to withhold their policy preferences in public opinion surveys, suggesting income gaps in political engagement. Despite the wealth of scholarly interest in opinion formation, however, previous studies focused almost exclusively on opinion gaps in preferences, leaving income-related gaps in policy prioritisation virtually unexamined. Drawing on 596 public opinion surveys conducted with nearly 700,000 Americans over 55 years, we make a comprehensive attempt to examine income-level differences in “don’t know” responses to the most important problem (MIP) question. Our results show that the less affluent are more likely to say “don’t know” when asked about the MIP facing their country, even after controlling for various factors including educational attainment and political attention. Importantly, we also show that income-related differences in opinionation cross cut other socio-economic differences in policy prioritisation. These results have important implications for the study of public opinion.

Increases in Income-Related Disparities in Early Elementary School Obesity, 1998-2014.

Research shows that population-level rates of obesity, which rose dramatically from the 1970s through the mid-2000s, have since plateaued or even started to decline. However, overall improvements may mask differences in trends for different subgroups. For instance, obesity rates have continued to climb among low-income adolescents, leading to growing income-related gaps in obesity. By comparison, we know little about whether income-related disparities have also changed among elementary school children. To address this gap, we examined two cohorts of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Kindergarten cohort, which followed children entering school in 1998 and 2010. We hypothesized that income-related disparities in obesity have also grown larger over time among young children. We used data from nationally representative samples of children who entered kindergarten in 1998 and 2010. We documented rates of overweight and obesity from kindergarten through third grade, examined how rates differed for children from high- and low-income families, and tested whether income-related disparities changed over time. Rates of overweight and obesity were 2 to 5 percentage points higher in the later cohort, and overall increases masked substantial variation by income. Specifically, these increases were driven by children in lower-income households, resulting in substantially larger income-related disparities in overweight and obesity in the later cohort. As we hypothesized, income-related disparities in young children's obesity grew between 1998 and 2014. This suggests that efforts to curb increasing rates of obesity may have been more successful for higher-income families. We discuss potential mechanisms that may account for increasing disparities.

How much do preventive health behaviors explain education- and income-related inequalities in health? Results of Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition analysis

PurposeFive health practices are recognized to be essential for the prevention of chronic disease, viz. avoiding smoking, drinking in moderation, healthy diet, regular physical activity, and adequate sleep. However, how much of these behaviors contribute to socioeconomic disparities in health continues to be debated–some claim “hardly any,” while others say “nearly all.” MethodsThe data were from the NHANES 2015–16. Selected outcomes were self-rated health, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Socioeconomic status was measured by education and household income. We implemented Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition to examine the extent to which socioeconomic inequalities in health could be explained by socioeconomic differences in adherence to health practices. Results55%–90% of education-based inequalities in hypertension (89%), cardiovascular diseases (56%), and diabetes (75%) could be explained by health practices–especially current smoking and overweight. By contrast, most income-related inequalities in health outcomes could not be explained by health practices. ConclusionsHow much heath practices can account for socioeconomic inequalities in health depends on the indicator of socioeconomic status. Educational disparities in health is explained by the higher prevalence of smoking and overweight in educationally disadvantaged groups. However, income-related gaps in health may require further consideration besides lifestyle modification.

Bridging the gaps in cognitive achievement in India: The crucial role of the integrated child development services in early childhood

The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme aims to provide food supplementation, immunization, health check-ups, and early childhood education to children under the age of six years. There is mounting evidence that links poverty, undernutrition, and lack of stimulation at early ages with cognitive and economic disadvantages later in life. Furthermore, early childhood nutritional, educational, and health interventions are associated with human capital gains in developing countries. In this paper, we investigate the medium-term impact of ICDS services received in early childhood on subsequent reading and arithmetic achievement among children in the ages of eight to 11 in India. There are no nationwide studies that investigate the impact of ICDS on cognitive outcomes. Utilizing data from the two waves of the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) and applying propensity score matching, we find that ICDS has a positive impact on cognitive achievement, primarily for girls and children in low-income families. Since the influence of ICDS intervention is observed for these groups, we believe that the ICDS plays a critical role in reducing gender and income-related gaps in cognitive achievement in India.

Income-Related Gaps in Early Child Cognitive Development: Why Are They Larger in the United States Than in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada?

Previous research has documented significantly larger income-related gaps in children’s early cognitive development in the United States than in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. In this study, we investigate the extent to which this is a result of a more unequal income distribution in the United States. We show that although incomes are more unequal in the United States than elsewhere, a given difference in real income is associated with larger gaps in child test scores there than in the three other countries. In particular, high-income families in the United States appear to translate the same amount of financial resources into greater cognitive advantages relative to the middle-income group than those in the other countries studied. We compare inequalities in other kinds of family characteristics and show that higher income levels are disproportionately concentrated among families with advantageous demographic characteristics in the United States. Our results underline the fact that the same degree of income inequality can translate into different disparities in child development, depending on the distribution of other family resources.

Trends in Income-Related Gaps in Enrollment in Early Childhood Education: 1968 to 2013.

We use data from the 1968-2013 October Current Population Survey to document trends in 3- and 4-year-old children's enrollment in center-based early childhood education, focusing on gaps in enrollment among children from low-, middle-, and high-income families. We find that income-related gaps in enrollment widened in the 1970s and 1980s but appear to have plateaued or narrowed for succeeding cohorts. These patterns are consistent with recent trends in income-related gaps in school achievement.

Income-Based Inequality in Educational Outcomes

We report results from our long-standing research partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. We make two primary contributions. First, we illustrate the wide range of informative analyses that can be conducted using a state longitudinal data system and the advantages of examining evidence from multiple cohorts of students. Second, we document large income-based gaps in educational attainments, including high school graduation rates and college-going rates. Importantly, we show that income-related gaps in both educational credentials and academic skill have narrowed substantially over the past several years in Massachusetts.

Determinants of Receipt of Recommended Preventive Services: Implications for the Affordable Care Act

We examined preventive care use by nonelderly adults (aged 18-64 years) before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and considered the contributions of insurance coverage and other factors to service use patterns. We used data from the 2005-2010 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to measure the receipt of 8 recommended preventive services. We examined gaps in receipt of services for adults with incomes below 400% of the federal poverty level compared with higher incomes. We then used a regression-based decomposition analysis to consider factors that explain the gaps in service use by income. There were large income-related disparities in preventive care receipt for nonelderly adults. Differences in insurance coverage explain 25% to 40% of the disparities in preventive service use by income, but education, age, and health status are also important drivers. Expanding coverage to lower-income adults through the ACA is expected to increase their preventive care use. However, the importance of education, age, and health status in explaining income-related gaps in service use indicates that the ACA cannot address all barriers to preventive care and additional interventions may be necessary.

Early Years Policy.

In this paper, we analyze the role that early years policy might play in narrowing educational attainment gaps. We begin by examining gaps in school readiness between low-, middle-, and high-income children, drawing on data from new large and nationally representative birth cohort studies in the US and UK. We find that sizable income-related gaps in school readiness are present in both countries before children enter school and then decompose these gaps to identify the factors that account for the poorer scores of low-income children. We then consider what role early years policy could play in tackling these gaps, drawing on the best available evidence to identify promising programs.

The Role of Higher Education in Social Mobility

Most Americans expect the nation's colleges and universities to promote the goal of social mobility to make it possible for anyone with ability and motivation to succeed. But according to Robert Haveman and Timothy Smeeding, income-related gaps both in access to and in success in higher education are large and growing. In the top-tier colleges and universities, almost three-quarters of the entering class is from the highest socioeconomic quartile. The pool of qualified youth is far greater than the number admitted and enrolled; hence America's top colleges could enroll more moderate- and low-income students without lowering their selection standards. Higher-income parents make enormous efforts to ensure their children's academic success, while children of poor parents begin the "college education game" later and with fewer resources. Students in poor and minority neighborhoods are less well prepared academically; ill prepared to select colleges, apply for admission, and secure acceptance; and poorly informed about the cost of attending college and the availability of needs-based financial aid. Sharply rising college prices during the 1980s and 1990s, together with the growing inequality of family income, have raised the cost of attending college far more for low-income students than for well-to-do students. Financial aid has risen more slowly, and the share targeted on low-income students has been falling. The authors offer bold policy recommendations to increase educational opportunities for low- and middle-income students. These involve the development of financing structures that will increase access for students from lower-income families. Public institutions could price tuition close to real costs and use added revenues to provide direct student aid for students from low-income families. Federal subsidies to students who attend wealthy institutions could be capped, with the savings redirected to students attending less well-endowed schools, both public and private. Finally, federal and state governments could redirect to lower-income students the financial support they now provide colleges and universities.