Data Tool Tracks Neighborhood Impact on Childrens' Lives

Newly published nationwide data from the Census Bureau and researchers at Harvard and Brown Universities tracks neighborhoods where children have the best chances for success.

Nationally, the stark disparity between Memphis neighborhoods where children raised in low-income families grew up to make about $16,000 annually as adults, versus children of families with similar income in Minneapolis, who grew up to earn roughly $64,000 per year, was noted by researchers. Yet, The New York Times reports, that the local differences were "most compelling" for policymakers as Seattle children raised in one Census tract earned about $5,000 less annually as adults than children raised in a more affluent nearby neighborhood. The researchers conclude that the gaps are driven not by the differences in the neighborhoods, but by the neighborhoods themselves. As well, more time spent in good neighborhoods translates to greater benefits over the course of a child's life.

This work, years in the making, seeks to bring the abstract promise of big data to the real lives of children. Across the country, city officials and philanthropists who have dreamed of such a map are planning how to use it. They’re hoping it can help crack open a problem, the persistence of neighborhood disadvantage, that has been resistant to government interventions and good intentions for years.

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