Professor Raj Chetty of Harvard University presented his recent research on place and
economic mobility on June 1 at the Brookings Institution. His work utilizes de-identified
tax records from more than five million children whose families relocated
across counties between 1996 and 2012. The findings support existing research on
the importance of place: chances for upward mobility vary not only among
nations, but also within the United States. Further, Chetty’s study indicates
that when households move from a place that offers low odds for economic
mobility to a place where mobility is more likely, children who are younger
than 13 at the time of the move fare better than those who are older.
This work, which also finds effects on mobility from racial
segregation, income inequality, family structure, social capital and school
quality, presents a number of policy options to consider. Some examples from
Chetty’s presentation and panel discussion include:
- Constructing public housing in lower-poverty areas instead of where poverty is highly concentrated.
- Investing in areas where economic mobility is currently low with the goal of replicating areas where mobility is higher.
- Making school choice a priority so that children in families unable to move to areas of more opportunity are not forced to attend poor-quality schools.
- Targeting housing vouchers so that families with the youngest children are prioritized since young children stand to benefit the most from moving to an area of opportunity.
Certainly these policy recommendations have been made
before, but Chetty’s work utilizes a very large data set to lend heft to the
rationale behind them.
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