Can We Move Kids Out of Poverty?
Does moving to a better neighborhood make a difference for poor children?
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In Atlanta, children born into the bottom fifth of the national-income distribution have just a 4 percent chance of rising to the top fifth. That's a fraction of the shot they would have if they lived in another city: The odds would be one in 10 if they lived in New York, Los Angeles or Boston.
This comes from a terrific piece in yesterday's New York Times by David Leonhardt, which showed how some areas of the U.S. have strikingly low income mobility. The new research Leonhardt draws on also has interesting answer -- and one that contradicts much prior research -- to a different question: Does moving to a better neighborhood make a difference for poor children?