The Growing Number of Kids in Severely Distressed Neighborhoods: Evidence from the 2000 Census

Abstract

Between 1990-2000, there was a decrease in the number of children living in high-poverty neighborhoods, but the picture provided by the decrease in poverty levels alone is incomplete and potentially misleading. Using a more comprehensive measure of neighborhood quality, researchers found that the number of children living in severely distressed neighborhoods increased significantly between 1990-2000. Severely distressed neighborhoods are defined as census tracts with at lest three of the four following characteristics: high poverty rate (27.4 percent or more); high percentage of female-headed families (37.1 percent or more); high percentage of high school dropouts (23.0 percent or more); and high percentage of working-age males unattached to the labor force (34.0 percent or more). Despite the booming economy of the 1990s, the number of children living in severely distressed neighborhoods increased from 3.4 million in 1990 to 4.4 million in 2000. The number of adults living in such neighborhoods also increased, from 7.7 million to JO million during the 1990s. Of the 4.4 million children growing up in severely distressed neighborhoods, 54 percent are black, and 30 percent are Hispanic. Almost a quarter of all black children, and more than 1 in 10 Hispanic children, live in severely distressed neighborhoods, compared with 1 percent of non-Hispanic white children. (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the ori inal document. The Growing Number of Kids in Severely Distressed Neighborhoods: Evidence from the 2000 Census By William O'Hare and Mark Mather