Civil Society and Upward Mobility: Examining Relationships between Nonprofit Human Service Investment and Place-Based Economic Opportunity

• In Event: Place and Opportunity: Human Services and Public Policy

Abstract

Researchers have long believed that geographic context profoundly shapes economic mobility (Chetty and Hendren 2017; Chetty et al. 2014; Turner and Gourevitch 2017; Ellen and Turner 1997; Torche 2015; Haveman and Smeeding 2006; Sharkey and Faber 2014; Nunn et al. 2007). While the importance of place is well established, identifying the mechanisms through which neighborhoods influence life outcomes remains a persistent challenge. Neighborhoods affect economic mobility through multiple interrelated pathways. Access to high-quality public services—including schools, healthcare, childcare, and transit—is often limited in racially and economically marginalized communities due to structural inequalities like poverty, segregation, and political fragmentation (Turner & Gourevitch 2017; Ellen & Turner 1997). Exposure to crime and violence also undermines child development and contributes to over-policing (Turner & Gourevitch 2017; Chyn & Katz 2021). Social networks, adult role models, and peer effects provide informal pathways to opportunity, especially when they bridge class lines (Chetty et al. 2022). Spatial mismatch between housing and jobs, along with structural factors like concentrated poverty, single-parent household prevalence, and inequality, also shape mobility outcomes (Chetty et al. 2014; Chetty & Hendren 2017).

Recent work by Chetty and Hendren (2017a; 2017b) shows that childhood exposure to certain places improves mobility, suggesting that some communities are “better engines of upward mobility.” Yet most literature emphasizes public institutions—particularly schools—while overlooking the role of nonprofit human service organizations in enhancing mobility (Grawe 2008; Chetty et al. 2014). Nonprofits are particularly relevant because they provide services in education, housing, legal aid, and employment—sectors directly tied to known mobility mechanisms. Their missions respond to local needs, making them embedded components of community infrastructure. However, nonprofit capacity is unevenly distributed, often favoring more affluent, politically connected communities. As a result, historically disadvantaged areas may lack access to organizations designed to enhance mobility.

This paper conceptualizes nonprofits as institutional elements of place-based opportunity ecosystems and examines their relationship to intergenerational mobility. Specifically, we assess whether variation in county-level nonprofit human service expenditures across U.S. counties is associated with Chetty and Hendren’s county-level measures of intergenerational economic mobility. We use administrative data derived from nonprofit tax filings (IRS 990s) compiled by the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) for 1997–2003 to examine total and per capita expenditures across sectors such as education, housing, and legal aid. These data are linked to Opportunity Insights’ mobility metrics—based on individual tax records for children born between 1980 and 1982, with adult incomes observed between 2010 and 2015 (Chetty et al. 2014). We also incorporate ACS data from 2000 and 2005–2009 to reflect neighborhood characteristics during children’s formative years.

Descriptive analyses and visualizations will explore the spatial distribution of nonprofit capacity, while multivariate models will assess whether nonprofit investment is connected to increased mobility, accounting for demographic and economic variables. Policy implications include using nonprofit capacity data to guide equitable place-based investments, incorporating nonprofits into broader opportunity assessments, and evaluating the long-term effects of targeted funding strategies.

Authors

• Scott Allard, University of Washington
  Non-Presenting Co-Author

• Isaiah Charles Alan Wright, University of Washington
  Presenting Author