Staying Close: Proximity to Kin and Neighborhood Out-Mobility By Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status

• In Event: 151 - Regular Session. Internal Migration

Abstract

Theories of residential attainment have not addressed the role that kin may play in shaping patterns of neighborhood out-mobility, particularly among residents in poor neighborhoods. We hypothesize that close geographic proximity to kin will be associated with lower levels of neighborhood out-mobility, and that this relationship will be stronger among residents in poor neighborhoods relative to those in non-poor neighborhoods. We use the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and tract-level census data to evaluate how distance to kin influences neighborhood out-mobility among residents in poor and non-poor neighborhoods. We find that the likelihood of neighborhood out-mobility increases as geographic distance to kin increases, and confirm that the relationship between proximity to kin and neighborhood out-mobility is stronger among those in poor neighborhoods relative to those in non-poor neighborhoods. Residents in poor neighborhoods with the closest geographic proximity to kin are the least likely to move out of their neighborhoods.

Authors

• Elizabeth Ackert, University of Washington

• Amy L. Spring, Georgia State University

• Kyle Crowder, University of Washington

• Scott J. South, State University of New York-Albany