Age of Independence or Same as it Ever Was? Young Adulthood and Neighborhood Race-Ethnic Context

• In Event: 095 - Section on Community and Urban Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Section on Community and Urban Roundtables (one-hour). Table 01. Neighborhood Context

Abstract

Sociological studies of youth transitions to adulthood have examined a variety of pathways and consequences of these transitions, such as health, socioeconomic status, and relationships to the family of origin. This paper focuses on an understudied factor in the transition to adulthood, the residential contexts of young adults; specifically, the ways in which these residential contexts vary by age, family proximity, and characteristics of parental neighborhoods. I employ ordinary least squares regression models and data from the 1997 and 1999 Panel Study of Income Dynamics and 2000 U.S. Census data to investigate these differences. The main conclusion is that neighborhood contexts of adult children are most strongly associated with the residential contexts of their parents. I also find evidence that young adulthood is associated with living in neighborhoods with less same race neighbors. More theoretical and public policy attention should be placed on transitions to young adulthood and their potential to create neighborhood change.

Author

• Aaron J. Howell, State University of New York