The Impact of Compositional and Redistributive Forces on Poverty Concentration

Abstract

Changes in poverty concentration have been shown to result from intrametropolitan forces that redistribute population among neighborhoods and metropolitan-wide forces that alter the overall population composition of metropolitan areas. The author examines the degree to which these two forces affected levels of poverty concentration within the Atlanta, Georgia, metropolitan region from 1980 to 1990. Although redistributive forces functioned to increase poverty concentration, these forces were overwhelmed by the aggregate increase in the nonpoor over the time period. As a result, both the African-American and white poor were slightly less residentially exposed to poverty in 1990 than in 1980. However, the African-American poor were also less exposed to nonpoor African-Americans and whites. Evidence suggests that poor populations in Atlanta did make residential moves that would reduce their spatial isolation, but such moves were overwhelmed by the residential movement of the nonpoor.

Poverty Concentration in the Prismatic Metropolis: The Impact of Compositional and Redistributive Forces Within Los Angeles, California, 1990–2000

“…The three hypotheses mentioned above have often been treated as competing explanations for poverty concentration, yet they are not mutually exclusive (Holloway et al 1999; Quillian 1999; Strait 2001b). It is logical that all three processes—class‐sensitive migration, net compositional changes in poverty, and racial segregation—can operate together to influence the degree to which poverty is concentrated residentially.…”

“…Some researchers investigating poverty concentration have utilized a different methodological approach that allows one to consider the simultaneous impacts of class‐sensitive migration, compositional changes in poverty, and racial segregation (Holloway et al 1999; Strait 2001b, 2002). By focusing on the combined impacts that these three phenomena have on two broad forces that influence poverty concentration, this unified approach provides a way to overcome the methodological discrepancies noted by Quillian (1999).…”

“…The rise of the neighborhood effects literature has coincided with a number of studies documenting significant increases in poverty concentration within many, if not most, U.S. metropolitan areas during the 1970s and 1980s (Holloway et al 1999; Jargowsky 1997; Strait 2001a, 2001b, 2002; Kingsley and Pettit 2003). Research focused on the dynamics of urban poverty during the 1990s has shown that this trend reversed itself in the more recent decade.…”

Neighborhood Dynamics of Race and Ethnicity in the 21st Century: Residential Segregation and Poverty Concentration within Chicago, Illinois; 2000-2010

“…We argue that it remains paramount to understand how city-wide diversity translates to the actual residential experiences of different racial and ethnic groups within places like Chicago, particularly in light of research suggesting that neighborhood geographies of US metropolitan areas can simultaneously be both diverse and segregated (Holloway et al 2012;Strait and Gong 2015). In meeting its purpose this project builds upon a growing literature that has analyzed changes in residential segregation at the neighborhood level, and has considered its relationship to degrees of poverty concentration exhibited among different racial and ethnic groups (Firebaugh and Strait 2001Strait , 2002Strait , 2006aStrait , 2006bStrait and Gong 2008, 2015Strait et al 2007).…”

An Epidemiology of Neighborhood Poverty: Causal Factors of Infant Mortality Among Blacks and Whites in the Metropolitan United States*

“…In the United States urban blacks have historically resided in neighborhoods that are generally poorer than those inhabited by other racial and ethnic groups. Considerable research has focused specifically on the large number of blacks, both poor and nonpoor, that disproportionately live in extremely poor neighborhoods (Massey and Denton 1993; Jargowsky 1997, 2003; Holloway et al 1999; Strait 2001a, b, 2002, forthcoming). Jargowsky (1997, 2003) conducted comprehensive, nationwide analysis of the changing nature of extremely poor metropolitan neighborhoods during the past three decades.…”