Geographic disadvantage and quality of employment

Bibliographic Data

ID11228243
AuthorsJay Kelley (0000-0001-5186-5563, Institute of Advanced Studies The Australian National University Canberra Australian Capital Territory Australia, corresponding author), M D R Evans (0000-0002-8072-0854, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research The University of Melbourne Melbourne Victoria Australia)
Year2023
Volume58
Issue3
Pages685-713
Publication date2023-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAustralian Journal of Social Issues (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0157-6321 • E-ISSN: 1839-4655
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajs4.247
OpenAlexW4353060355
LanguageEN
References cited52

Many policymakers assume that children's neighbourhoods shape their career trajectories, but the facts are otherwise. Challenges: (1) Because many children in poor postcodes have disadvantaged families, modelling the causal influence of neighbourhood socioeconomic status (SES) requires a comprehensive set of control variables measuring family background. (2) Adults can choose where to live, so dwelling in a high SES postcode is partially a consequence of occupational success, not a cause. Hence, we must focus on childhood postcode SES. (3) Random measurement error in postcode SES can bias estimates. Data: Large, representative national samples from the International Social Science Survey/Australia. OLS and structural equation models. Correlations between a person's childhood postcode SES and their education, adult occupational status (which robustly measures job quality, social status and permanent income) and family income are all modest, around r = .15. Net of family background (fathers' occupational status, fathers' class, mothers' employment, parents' culture, ethnicity, demographics and respondent's IQ) multivariate analyses show that growing up in a low SES postcode is only a slight disadvantage, which arises entirely because children there get about half a year less education than comparable children in high SES postcodes. Otherwise, there is no statistically significant childhood postcode disadvantage in career opportunities

Disadvantage · Disadvantaged · Economic growth · Economics · Ethnic group · Neighbourhood (mathematics · Occupational prestige · Political science · Respondent · Social class · Socioeconomic status · Sociology · Demography · Housing Market and Economics · Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies · Psychology · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies

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