Long-Term Effects of a Residential Mobility Program on Family Economic Status

Micere Keels, Northwestern University
Greg J. Duncan, Northwestern University
James Rosenbaum, Northwestern University

We examine the conditions under which a residential mobility program is an effective policy for reducing concentrated urban poverty. We find that the Gautreaux residential mobility program, which relocated low-income African-American families into integrated neighborhoods within and beyond the Chicago city limits, has had a differential impact on promoting socioeconomic well-being, with participants best off if they are placed in communities with higher incomes and in suburban as opposed to city communities. We use the Census tract mean income of current address, measured up to 25 years after entry into the program, as a measure of "permanent income." Dispersing low-income families beyond the central-city boundary significantly increases eventual neighborhood income. The socioeconomic characteristics of the initial placement community are important in influencing the mean income of current address. Finally, a family's mobility decisions after moving to their initial placement address has a significant influence on neighborhood income of current address.