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Moving At-Risk Teenagers Out of High-Risk Neighborhoods: Why Girls Fare Better Than Boys

Author

Listed:
  • Susan Cpublicet-Lundquist

    (Princeton University)

  • Greg J. Duncan

    (Northwestern University)

  • Kathryn Edin

    (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Jeffrey R. Kling

    (The Brookings Institution)

Abstract

The Moving to Opportunity (MTO) experiment offered over 4,000 public housing residents in five U.S. cities the opportunity to move to very low poverty neighborhoods. Results from a survey conducted four to seven years after random assignment showed that boys in the experimental group fared no better or worse on measures of risk behavior than their control group counterparts, while girls in the experimental group demonstrated better mental health and lower risk behavior relative to control group girls. We seek to understand these differences by analyzing data from the survey and from in-depth interviews conducted with a random subsample of 86 teens 14 to 19 years old in Baltimore and Chicago. We find that control group boys, especially in Baltimore, deployed conscious strategies for avoiding neighborhood trouble, in contrast to many experimental boys who had subsequently moved back to higher poverty neighborhoods. Second, experimental group girls' patterns of activity fit in more easily in low poverty neighborhoods than boys', whose routines tended to draw negative reactions from community members and agents of social control. Third, experimental boys were far less likely to have strong connections to non-biological father figures than controls, which may have contributed to behavioral and mental health problems.

Suggested Citation

  • Susan Cpublicet-Lundquist & Greg J. Duncan & Kathryn Edin & Jeffrey R. Kling, 2006. "Moving At-Risk Teenagers Out of High-Risk Neighborhoods: Why Girls Fare Better Than Boys," Working Papers 888, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    • Handle: RePEc:pri:indrel:509
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Singh-Manoux, Archana & Adler, Nancy E. & Marmot, Michael G., 2003. "Subjective social status: its determinants and its association with measures of ill-health in the Whitehall II study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(6), pages 1321-1333, March.
    2. Jeffrey R. Kling & Jens Ludwig & Lawrence F. Katz, 2005. "Neighborhood Effects on Crime for Female and Male Youth: Evidence from a Randomized Housing Voucher Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(1), pages 87-130.
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    7. Lawrence F. Katz & Jeffrey R. Kling & Jeffrey B. Liebman, 2001. "Moving to Opportunity in Boston: Early Results of a Randomized Mobility Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(2), pages 607-654.
    8. Cohen, Deborah A. & Farley, Thomas A. & Mason, Karen, 2003. "Why is poverty unhealthy? Social and physical mediators," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(9), pages 1631-1641, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Leventhal, Tama & Dupéré, Véronique, 2011. "Moving to Opportunity: Does long-term exposure to 'low-poverty' neighborhoods make a difference for adolescents?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(5), pages 737-743, September.
    2. Anna Piil Damm & Christian Dustmann, 2014. "Does Growing Up in a High Crime Neighborhood Affect Youth Criminal Behavior?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(6), pages 1806-1832, June.
    3. Gennetian, Lisa A. & Sciandra, Matthew & Sanbonmatsu, Lisa & Ludwig, Jens & Katz, Lawrence F. & Duncan, Greg J. & Kling, Jeffrey R. & Kessler, Ronald, 2012. "The Long-Term Effects of Moving to Opportunity on Youth Outcomes," Scholarly Articles 33950779, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    4. Philip Oreopoulos & Daniel Lang & Joshua Angrist, 2009. "Incentives and Services for College Achievement: Evidence from a Randomized Trial," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 136-163, January.
    5. Joshua Angrist & Daniel Lang & Philip Oreopoulos, 2006. "Lead Them to Water and Pay Them to Drink: An Experiment with Services and Incentives for College Achievement," NBER Working Papers 12790, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Sarah E Wiehe & Mei-Po Kwan & Jeff Wilson & J Dennis Fortenberry, 2013. "Adolescent Health-Risk Behavior and Community Disorder," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(11), pages 1-7, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    neighborhood effects; social experiment; mixed methods; youth risk behavior;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H43 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Project Evaluation; Social Discount Rate
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy

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