Racial and Ethnic Differences in Neighborhood Attainment during the Transition to Young Adulthood: New Evidence from Add Health

Raymond R. Swisher, Bowling Green State University
Danielle C. Kuhl, Bowling Green State University
Jorge Chavez, Bowling Green State University

This paper examines racial and ethnic differences in changes in locational attainment during the transition to adulthood, using newly available longitudinal data about the neighborhoods of youth across the first three waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. It examines differences (White, Black, and Latino) in the degree of change in neighborhood poverty and affluence that is due to multiple life course transitions, such as leaving the parental household, entering the labor force, going to institutions of higher education, and household formation. It also assesses the merits of residential assimilation and place stratification (both weak and strong versions) theories of neighborhood change. Preliminary results suggest that African Americans and Latinos have lower locational attainment in early adulthood than do Whites. Consistent with the weak version of the place stratification model, socioeconomic resources are more important factors for African Americans than they are for Whites.