The joint distribution of age and race in racially integrated neighbourhoods

Abstract

Like many other wealthy nations, the United States is experiencing substantial population ageing, particularly among Whites, whose median age is over a decade older than Blacks' and Hispanics'. To date, analyses of this demographic divergence have been limited to national and state levels; we know little about its manifestation at smaller scales. This study introduces three micro‐level measures of the joint distribution of age and race, demonstrating that Whites are older than their non‐White neighbours in most integrated neighbourhoods, with notable variation across regional and local characteristics. Racial age gaps significantly predict subsequent declines in neighbourhoods' White population, indicating that racial change has an under‐studied age dimension. Meanwhile, neighbourhoods with relatively younger Whites are rare, clustered in coastal metros, and linked to gentrification. Drawing on theories of multidimensional heterogeneity, I suggest that local consolidation of age and racial differences may undermine stable integration and reinforce inequality.

Review of Research on Urban Social Space and Sustainable Development

“…In addition to immigrant groups, non-mainstream/vulnerable groups such as ethnic minorities, elderly groups, and poor groups are also the focus of research on the topic of social integration, and the topics discussed in related studies are more similar to those in immigrant studies. Of these, studies on ethnic integration have focused on the United States [106,107]. Carrillo and Rothbaum's research shows that urban areas in the United States have experienced important changes in the distribution of race/ethnicity and that the spatial integration of races is influenced by individual characteristics such as education, income, and age, but spatial integration does not necessarily translate into better economic and social integration [108].…”