The feedback loop: segregation and education in the last 30 years
America is a more segregated society today than it was in 1970 — when one looks at the tendency of rich, poor and middle class to cluster together, says economist Tara Williams, who studied 216 cities and finds that the bulk of this new segregation occurred during the 1980s at the same time as the gap between the incomes of rich and poor widened substantially.…
“As inequality increases, it becomes less likely that rich and poor households are willing” — or able — “to pay similar amounts for a given set of neighborhood amenities,” she says. “As income inequality rises, the rich will be more likely to outbid the poor for high-quality neighborhoods and the rich and the poor will be less likely to live in close proximity.”
RW: A tendency for income classes to cluster could magnify the segregation across the economy, affecting, earnings, job availability, mobility, and overall welfare. And a report by the Census Bureau shows just that: educational attainment by race, has improved slightly; however, a wedge is still quite evident at the bottom and top end of the distributions.
Eduaction by race in 1969
The chart illustrates the percentage of the White and Non-white non-institutional population that achieved each level of education in 1969. The White population achieved a higher level of education across all categories of higher education.
The disparity across race is especially evident at the bottom and top end of the distributions. In the Non-white population, 39% achieved just an elementary school level of education, and 12% attained at least some college education, with 5% receiving a college degree. On the other hand, a lower 25% of the White population achieved just an elementary school level of education, while 20% attained at least some level of college education, with 9% (almost double the Non-white) receiving a college degree.
Education by race in 2008. Note: since the 1969 report breaks down race into 2 categories, White and Non-white, I present the 2008 data in the same manner. However, the Census now follows four categories of race.
The chart above shows that in 2008 a similar pattern to that in 1969. There is a larger share of the Non-white population that achieved less than a high-school education (1st-11th grade), 25% Non-White versus 9% Non-Hispanic White, and a smaller share that attained a Bachelor, Master’s or Professional, or Doctorate level of education, 20% total Non-white versus >30% total Non-Hispanic White.
According to the Census report,
“workers with a high school degree earned an average of $31,286 in 2007, while those with a bachelor’s degree earned an average of $57,181.”
That’s a $26k premium on earnings if a worker has a B.A. Hmm….
To be sure, the size of the 2008 non-white population has increased substantially since 1969; and furthermore, the 1969 data includes data on the population aged 14 yrs and older, while the 2008 statistics consist of the population aged 18 yrs and older. However, the trend is clear: there are potentially harmful feedback loops between income inequality and education by race.
The negative feedback loop: income inequality – disparate education opportunities – diverging relative earnings – income inequality.
Originally published at the News N Economics blog and reproduced here with the author’s permission.
