Sequential Neighborhood Effects: The Effect of Long-Term Exposure to Concentrated Disadvantage on Children’s Reading and Mathematical Skills

PWP-CCPR-2016-030

Abstract

Disadvantaged children’s poorer reading and math skills perpetuate socioeconomic and racial/ethnic inequality in the U.S. Although prior research suggest that poor neighborhoods may contribute to low skill levels, it typically relies on cross-sectional data and does not account for neighborhood choice. We examine the cumulative effects of neighborhood characteristics on reading and math skills in Los Angeles County using longitudinal data and a new propensity function approach in which cumulative neighborhood effects are modeled as a continuous treatment variable. This approach offers several advantages compared to the marginal structural modeling approach used in recent research. Our results indicate that the recency of exposure to poor neighborhoods plays a more significant role in children’s skills acquisition than the average exposure across childhood. These findings suggest that studies should consider average cumulative exposure, the timing of exposure to neighborhoods of different types, and life-cycle patterns of neighborhood exposure for children’s development.