A recently released study from the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that longer exposure to more advantaged neighborhoods during childhood improves long-term health, well-being, and neighborhood quality outcomes during adulthood. The study identifies neighborhood stressors and health-related behaviors such as smoking as key predictors of adult health. The study explores five factors that appear to mediate place effects on children: school quality, peer influences, pollution, exposure to violence, and criminal justice policies.
“How does one’s place of residence affect individual behavior and long-run outcomes?” ask the study’s authors. “Understanding neighborhood and place effects has been a leading question for social scientists during the past half-century. Recent empirical studies using experimental and quasi-experimental research designs have generated new insights on the importance of residential neighborhoods in childhood and adulthood.”
Read study findings here.
Follow the Opportunity Starts at Home campaign on social media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Be sure to sign up for our e-newsletter to get the latest updates about the campaign, including new multi-sector partners, calls to action, events, and research.