Does the Process of Changing Neighborhoods Predict Young Children’s Academic Performance, Over and Above Neighborhood Quality?

• In Event: Multidimensional Effects of Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status and Toxin Exposure Across Development

Abstract

The Moving to Opportunity study famously demonstrated that relocating to a higher quality neighborhood (i.e., more resources, less crime) during early life improved children’s academic achievement (Chetty et al., 2016). This finding stimulated a new wave of research aimed at unpacking the mechanisms through which neighborhood experiences influence children’s outcomes. Since this study randomly assigned families to move or not, one unanswered question is whether the process of neighborhood change is itself associated with children’s outcomes, over and above baseline and subsequent neighborhood quality. Change in neighborhood status could impact children’s ability to perform well in school by causing social or emotional upheaval. In a large, longitudinal study, we investigate whether upward and downward social mobility during the first five years of life is associated with children’s academic performance at age 7, over and above early and recent neighborhood quality.

Method
Our sample was from Born in Bradford (Wright et al., 2012), a longitudinal multi-ethnic birth cohort in a city in northern England (N = 5,977; 50% Female, 35% White, 51% South Asian, 9% Other). Children’s home addresses at birth and age 5 reflected their neighborhood socio-economic status (SES) using an official measure of neighborhood affluence in England based on income, employment, health, crime, environment, and % population with educational qualifications (310 neighborhoods ranked 1-10; McLennan et al., 2019). We calculated two dichotomous indexes of social mobility: Upward and Downward Social Mobility. Each reflected whether or not the child moved from one neighborhood to another (either a neighborhood higher or lower SES) between ages 0 and 5.
Academic performance represented children’s scores on a standardized school-based exam that includes math, reading, and science subscales at age seven. Linear regressions tested whether upward and downward social mobility were associated with children’s academic performance, controlling for child ethnicity, family SES (income and maternal education), baseline neighborhood SES at birth, and subsequent neighborhood SES at age five.

Results
During the first five years of life, most children moved up in neighborhood status (38%; n = 2,247) whereas 26% (n = 1,575) moved down, and 36% (n = 2,155) did not change. Children who moved from a higher quality to a lower quality neighborhood (i.e., experienced downward social mobility) during the first five years of life demonstrated significantly worse academic performance at age 7 — regardless of baseline or subsequent neighborhood SES, family SES, and ethnicity (B = -0.13, SE = 0.05, p = 0.01).

Conclusion
Promoting stability in young children’s lives and understanding how processes of change influence children’s development are key goals for researchers, educators, and policy makers. We explored how change in neighborhood status –i.e., social mobility—during early childhood impacts children’s capacity to perform positively in school. Moving to a lower SES neighborhood during the first five years of life predicted worse academic performance at age seven, over and above baseline and subsequent household and neighborhood circumstances. Results suggest that children who move to poorer neighborhoods face additional academic risk, regardless of their neighborhoods’ relative status to those of other children.

Authors

• Emma Armstrong-Carter, Stanford University
  Presenting Author

• Liam JB Hill, University of Leeds
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ben Domingue
  Non-Presenting Author