Background

The geographic location of birth has implications for low-income children's upward economic mobility, as Chetty, Hendren, Kline, and Saez (2014) found in an examination of millions of income tax records from each county in the US. Additional work indicates that low income children in higher economic mobility counties have higher language scores and fewer behavioral problems (Donnelly et al., 2017). However, the processes by which the geography of opportunity influences parenting are less well-understood.

Objective

This study examines whether living in higher intergenerational mobility counties is associated with less harsh parenting, material hardship, household violence and substance use, and low child supervision – parenting behaviors that increase the risk for child maltreatment – for low-income families.

Data

Data come from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a longitudinal birth cohort of low income families in 20 cities in the U.S (N ~, 2841; 76% lower (household income of $41,994 or less) and 24% higher-income) linked to county level data on intergenerational mobility from the Equality of Opportunity Project.

Methods

We estimate OLS and Linear Probability regressions of the association between (1) exposure to county-level intergenerational mobility and (2) number of waves of exposure to county intergenerational mobility 1 standard deviation above the mean and maternal parenting behaviors.

Results

A 1 standard deviation increase in county level intergenerational mobility is associated with decreases in harsh parenting, but not indicators of neglect. Longer exposure to high intergenerational mobility areas was associated with decreased maternal harsh parenting and risk for child maltreatment.

Conclusions

For low-income children, higher intergenerational mobility is associated with decreased risk of harsh parenting, particularly at younger ages, as is longer exposure to high intergenerational mobility areas. That lower-income families are less likely to live in economically mobile geographies may exacerbate inequalities among income groups.

中文翻译：

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低收入家庭流动性和育儿行为的地理分布

背景

正如 Chetty、Hendren、Kline 和 Saez（2014 年）在检查美国每个县的数百万所得税记录中发现的那样，出生的地理位置对低收入儿童的向上经济流动有影响。其他工作表明，经济流动性较高县的低收入儿童语言得分较高，行为问题较少（Donnelly 等人，2017 年）。然而，机会地理影响育儿的过程却鲜为人知。

客观的

本研究探讨了生活在代际流动性较高的县是否与低收入家庭的育儿不严、物质困难、家庭暴力和物质使用以及儿童监督不足（增加虐待儿童风险的育儿行为）有关。

数据

数据来自脆弱家庭和儿童福利研究，这是美国 20 个城市低收入家庭的纵向出生队列（N ~，2841；低 76%（家庭收入不超过 41,994 美元）和高收入 24%）相关联机会平等项目中关于代际流动的县级数据。

方法

我们估计 (1) 县级代际流动性暴露与 (2) 县级代际流动性暴露波数高于平均值 1 个标准差与母亲养育行为之间的关联的 OLS 和线性概率回归。

结果

县级代际流动性增加 1 个标准差与严厉育儿的减少有关，但与忽视指标无关。长时间暴露于高代际流动区域与减少母亲严厉的养育和虐待儿童的风险有关。

结论

对于低收入儿童而言，较高的代际流动性与降低严苛养育的风险有关，特别是在年轻时，更长时间地接触高代际流动性地区也是如此。低收入家庭不太可能生活在经济流动的地区，这可能会加剧收入群体之间的不平等。