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State of Equity in Metro Boston I n d i c ato r s R e p o rt December 2011
Authors: Mariana Arcaya and Jessie Grogan Contributors: Eric Bourassa, Chris Brown, Amy Cotter, Marc Draisen, Jennifer Erickson, Barry Fradkin, Jamila Henderson, Haidee Janak, Amanda Linehan, Jennifer Raitt, Christian Spanring, Holly St. Clair, Victoria Wolff Advisory Committee Dolores Acevedo-Garcia, Northeastern University Institute on Urban Health Research Randy Albelda, UMass-Boston Center for Social Policy Gene Benson, Alternatives for Community and Environment Tracy Brown, Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston Claudia Green, Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition David Harris, Harvard Law School Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice Marcia Hohn, The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. Charlotte Kahn, The Boston Foundation Nancy McArdle, diversitydata.org Jan Mutchler, UMASS-Boston Gerontology Institute Tom Shapiro, Brandeis Heller School of Social Policy Rebecca Shuster, Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination Mary Skelton Roberts, Barr Foundation Meira Soloff, Action for Regional Equity Richard Walker III, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Design: Jason Fairchild, The Truesdale Group Special Thanks: PolicyLink and the Central Transportation Planning Staff (CTPS) Support From: The Barr Foundation About MAPC: The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) is a regional planning agency serving the people who live and work in Metropolitan Boston. Our mission is to promote smart growth and regional collaboration, which includes protecting the environment, supporting economic development, encouraging sustainable land use, improving transportation, bolstering affordable housing, ensuring public safety, advancing equity and opportunity among people of all backgrounds, and fostering collaboration among municipalities. ii
Executive Summary v Key Findings viii Part 1: Inequity Across the Region 1. A Shared Vision of an Equitable Region 2 The MetroFuture Equity Goals 2 What is Equity? 5 Historic Factors Influencing Equity 6 About this Report 9 2. A Changing Region: The Demographics of Metro Boston 11 The Region is Aging 13 The Region is Growing More Racially and Ethnically Diverse 15 The Region is Increasingly Foreign-Born 17 3. What Limits Opportunity in the Region? 19 Segregation 21 Dissimilarity Index Income Inequality 27 Household Income Gini Coefficient Tax Burden as a Percent of Family Income Part 2: Inequity Across Life’s Stages 4. Infants and Children 34 Growing up Healthy 35 Low Birth Weight Youth Asthma Hospitalization Rate Playing 41 Open Space per 1,000 Residents Distance to the Nearest Open Space Learning 45 Attendance of High-Poverty Schools 3rd Grade English Language Arts MCAS Scores iii
5. Teenagers and Young Adults 52 Learning 53 10th Grade Math MCAS Scores High School Graduation Rates High School Dropout Rates Staying Safe and out of Trouble 61 Exclusionary Discipline Rates Violent Crime Rates Establishing Independence 67 High School Students’ Plans for After Graduation Young Adults’ Access to Transit 6. Adults 71 Making a Good Living 72 Educational Attainment Rates Labor Force Participation Rates Poverty Rates Building a Home 83 Housing Affordability Housing Cost Burden Foreclosure Rates Home Loan Denial Rates Staying Healthy 93 Premature Mortality Rates Hospitalizations due to Hypertension 7. Older Adults 98 Remaining Active 99 Transit and Sidewalk Access for Seniors Paratransit Services Retiring Comfortably 107 Poverty Rates, Revisited Staying Connected 111 Dissimilarity Index for Nursing Homes Conclusion 112 References 114 iv
The MetroFuture region is one where: • A wider diversity of housing types are built in all communities (Goal #16), helping to combat segregation based on race, ethnicity, and income (Goal #15). • Health outcomes improve for residents of historically disadvantaged communities, with increased access to healthy food “(Goal #24), green space (Goal #23), better air quality (Goal #22), and medical care (Goal #26). • More convenient transportation options, leading to a healthier lifestyle, are available throughout the region, particularly in traditionally under-served areas (Goal #44). • All of the region’s residents are equipped with all of the tools they need to succeed in tomorrow’s economy (Goal #29), and small business owners and first-time homebuyers have the resources to build wealth for future generations (Goal #38). The MetroFuture Equity Goals MetroFuture directs us to achieve this vision by eliminating unfair, preventable, and systematic differences between groups that not only harm individuals and families, but threaten the vibrancy of our region. We believe that a focus on equity will make our region not only more just, but also more prosperous for all its residents. The State of Equity in Metro Boston e x e c u t i v e s u m m a ry So, what is the state of equity in Metro Boston? To create MetroFuture, the region’s plan for growth through the year 2030, thousands of people came together to talk about the future they wanted for their region. These “plan builders” shared a common vision of an equitable region where “all people have full and equal access to opportunities that enable them to attain their full potential.” 1 December 2011
We are Becoming More Diverse Metro Boston is changing. These demographic trends will have huge impacts on the region in decades to come, and the face of the region in 2030 will look substantially different than it does now. • Our older population is growing • The youngest among us are our most diverse residents • We are increasingly foreign-born Children as they try to grow up healthy, learn, and play White children and children of color rarely grow up side-by-side in Metro Boston. Children of color are highly concentrated in the region’s urban areas — areas that are nearly absent Whites the same age. Young adults as they try to learn, stay safe, and establish independence Black/African American and Latino teens enter the workforce less prepared for the region’s knowledge economy. Dropout rates for Black/African American and Latino teens are vastly higher than those for Whites and Asians. Inequity Impacts Us …
…At Each Stage of Our Lives We are Becoming Less Equal Segregation and income inequality harm individuals throughout their lives and leave Metro Boston less able to compete on the global stage with more equitable regions. These factors also underpin or exacerbate many of the inequalities highlighted in this report. • Income inequality is high and growing in Metro Boston • The region remains highly segregated • Our regressive tax structure worsens income inequality Seniors as they try to remain active, retire comfortably, and stay connected Blacks/African Americans die prematurely at more than one and a half times the rate of whites. Grandparents raising grandchildren are especially impacted by poverty. About half of all renters in the region are cost- burdened by housing. Adults as they try to make a good living, build a home, and stay healthy The foreclosure crisis hit urban and minority neighborhoods first and hardest.
Key Findings The State of Equity in Metro Boston is the first in a series of indicator reports that will monitor the region’s progress towards achieving goals set out by the MetroFuture plan. It will be followed by a policy report that will outline key recommendations to help ensure that the region is on track to meet its goals. It is a “baseline report” that establishes the numbers against which progress will be measured. We’ve taken a snapshot of the region as it looks right now, and future reports will tell us more clearly whether we are moving towards our goals — or away from them. We highlight equity-related goals first, because meeting them is crucial to achieving the vibrant region envisioned in MetroFuture. Each of the 65 MetroFuture goals is supported by a set of more specific, and largely numeric, objectives. As many objectives as possible are tied to indicators, which are regularly collected data points that form the basis of our analysis. For example: MetroFuture Goal #29: More workers will graduate from high school and go on to college or career training opportunities. Objective: 98% of 25 -34 year olds will have a high school diploma or equivalent (up from 91% today, and 89% if Current Trends continue). Objective: 90% of high school graduates will go on to 2- or 4-year college (up from 79% today). Objective: Only 10% of graduates from public high schools will need to take remedial courses during their first year of college (down from 37% today). Objective: 91% of all working-age adults (ages 25-65) will have a high school diploma or equivalent, up from 90% today and 85% if current trends continue. Indicator: Educational attainment rates viii State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
The MetroFuture plan includes hundreds of indicators, of which we chose the thirty that best tell the story of equity in the region. In addition, the indicators selected are updated regularly and cover the entire region in detail, making them benchmarks we can revisit in years to come to track our progress. To add greater depth to each indicator, we “slice” the data in several ways. For example, we look at the data by race/ethnicity and/or by geography, comparing results across municipalities or census tracts, or occasionally comparing the region as a whole to other regions. Other “slices” you will see regularly in our data are gender, age, and income, although they are not the only ones we use. This enables us to look at each indicator from a variety of perspectives. The indicators we address in this report do not simply stand on their own. Conditions described by each indicator can interact with or exacerbate conditions described by others. The reader will notice that some geographic areas suffer from negative outcomes across a variety of indicators, as do some racial or ethnic groups. The overlay of concentrated poverty with racial/ethnic segregation can worsen the challenges created by each. For that reason, it is important to take a look across the indicators in the report as a whole. On the following pages, you will see a list of the equity-related indicators we have measured and will revisit regularly moving forward. For each indicator, we summarize key findings and provide an icon indicating its topic area. The icons, listed in the key below, will enable those interested in learning more to find each indicator easily on the regional indicators website. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation De Ec Ed En Ho Pu Pu Tra Regional Indicators Issue Areas ixKey Findings
Inequity Across the Region Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Dissimilarity Index – segregation Over 60% of Black/African American residents of Metro Boston would have to move to a new neighborhood to achieve complete integration with Whites. Roughly 60% of all Latino residents of Metro Boston would have to move to a new neighborhood in order to achieve complete integration with Whites. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Household Income The richest fifth of the population earns, on average, more than 10 times the income of the poorest fifth. There is a more than twofold gap between median White and Latino household incomes. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Gini Coefficient of Income Inequality Incomes are distributed less equitably in Metro Boston than in 85% of the metro areas in the US. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Tax Burden as a Percent of Family Income Massachusetts’ poorest families pay more than twice as much of their income on taxes as do the Commonwealth’s richest families. Inequity Impacts Children Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Low Birth Weight A Black/African American woman with a college degree is more likely to have an underweight baby than is a White woman with a high school education. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Youth Asthma Hospitalization Rate Black/African American youth are hospitalized for asthma at over five times the rate of White youth. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Open Space per 1,000 Residents Inner Core communities and Regional Urban Centers have less open space in their neighborhoods (per capita) than do suburban communities. Issue Area Indicator Key Finding x State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Distance to the Nearest Open Space Much of the Inner Core, many Regional Urban Centers, and some Maturing Suburbs offer residents open space resources within walking or biking distance. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Attendance of High- Poverty Schools Nearly three quarters of Black/African American and Latino students attend high-poverty schools, while just over 10% of Whites do. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL 3rd Grade English Language Arts MCAS Scores A gap of nearly 40 percentage points separates White and Black/African American children in third grade reading proficiency rates. Inequity Impacts Teenagers Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL 10th Grade Math MCAS Scores White and Asian 10th graders score “proficient” or “advanced” on the math MCAS at rates nearly double those of Latinos and Blacks/African Americans. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL High School Graduation Rates Greater Boston suffers from dramatic disparities in graduation rates by school district, with rates ranging from 54% in Chelsea to 98-100% in many other districts. More than 90% of the region’s White and Asian students graduate in four years, while slightly more than 70% of Black/African American and 75% of Latino students do. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL High School Dropout Rates Dropout rates for Blacks/African Americans and Latinos in the region are at least three times as high as those for Whites and Asians. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality Exclusionary Discipline Rates Predominantly White school districts have an out-of-school suspension rate of about 4%, while more diverse districts have out-of-school suspension rates of nearly 15%. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Violent Crime Rates Boston,Chelsea,and Lynn experience,on average,five violent crimes per 1,000 residents,while many suburban municipalities suffer fewer than 1.5 crimes per 1,000 residents. Issue Area Indicator Key Finding xiKey Findings
Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL High School Students’ Plans for After Graduation A third of students in predominantly White districts plan to attend a 4-year public college, while less than a quarter of students in more diverse districts have the same plan. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Young adults’ access to MBTA transit Well over three quarters of the areas with high concentrations of teens and young adults (25% or more), are within a quarter mile of MBTA transit. Inequity Impacts Adults Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Educational Attainment Rates While fewer than 10% of Whites lack a high school diploma, roughly 35% of Latinos have not completed high school. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Labor Force Participation Rates While only 65% of those lacking a high school degree are active in the labor force, 88% of those with a bachelor’s degree are. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Poverty Rates Nearly 25% of Latinos, nearly 20% of Blacks/African Americans, and over 15% of Asians in our region live in poverty compared to 6% of Whites While fewer than 10% of families overall earn less than 130% of the poverty line, more than 25% of female-headed households with no spouse present earn less than that amount. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Housing Affordability Over 60% of the poorest households are living in unaffordable housing, defined as housing that costs more than 30% of gross household income. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Housing Cost Burden About half of the renters in Massachusetts pay more than 30% of their income on rent. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Foreclosure Rates Foreclosure rates were 10% or higher within parts of Roxbury and the South End between January 2007 and June 2008. Issue Area Indicator Key Finding xii State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Home Loan Denial Rates In many low-income Boston neighborhoods, as well as Randolph, Rockland, and Chelsea, more than 40% of high- income buyers are unable to get loans for home purchases. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Premature Mortality Rates Blacks/African Americans die prematurely at three times the rate of Asians and one and a half times the rate of Whites. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Hospitalizations due to High Blood Pressure The rate of hospitalization for hypertension is more than seven times as high for Inner Core Blacks/African Americans as it is for suburban Whites. Inequity Impacts Seniors Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Transit and Sidewalk Access for Seniors The concentration of seniors is over twice as high in sections of Framingham and Weymouth as it is in the region overall, yet these areas offer seniors limited transportation options. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Transportation Services for Seniors Most of the communities offering multiple paratransit options for seniors already have train or commuter rail access, whereas the municipalities with only 1 or 2 shuttles tend to be farther from the city where such services are needed most. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Poverty Rates for Seniors Nearly 35% of Latino households headed by a senior bring in less than $10,000 per year, while just under 8% of White households are in this lowest income category. 14% of grandparents who are the primary caregivers for their grandchildren live in poverty compared with rates of only 9% of the region’s residents overall. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality Dissimilarity Index for Nursing Homes About 65% of Black/African American nursing home residents would have to move to a new facility in order to achieve integration with White nursing home residents. Issue Area Indicator Key Finding xiiiKey Findings
United We Stand... Or Divided We Fall Persistent inequality is bad for all of us. Societies with large gaps between the rich and the poor struggle more with social ills — like crime and poor health — than do their more equal counterparts. And while it is a new field of research, academics are starting to examine the impact that inequality and segregation have on economic growth. Early studies have shown that there is a correlation between equity and economic growth, and that reductions in poverty in central cities can correspond with stronger regional economic growth.2 So, as we work towards the MetroFuture goals for a healthy, secure, and prosperous future for Metro Boston, we must incorporate equity at the heart of that work. We do this not only because it is a fundamental value of our society, but also because our future stability and prosperity as a region depend on it. About this report The State of Equity in Metro Boston is made up of three complementary products: The State of Equity in Metro Boston is the first in a series of indicator reports that will monitor the region’s progress towards achieving goals set out by the MetroFuture plan. The regional indicators website provides data on the key findings presented in this report, and many other indicators, in an interactive, dynamic format. The policy report will identify key policy and programmatic recommendations to “bend the trends” towards greater regional equity. MAPC will reach out to a wide variety of stakeholders in translating our data findings to policy; stay in touch to learn more. Learn more About the data behind the indicators — www.regionalindicators.org/equity About the MetroFuture plan — www.metrofuture.org About MAPC and its work — www.mapc.org About MAPC The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) is a regional planning agency serving the people who live and work in Metropolitan Boston. Our mission is to promote smart growth and regional collaboration, which includes protecting the environment, supporting economic development, encouraging sustainable land use, improving transportation, bolstering affordable housing, ensuring public safety, advancing equity and opportunity among people of all backgrounds, and fostering collaboration among municipalities. 1 We credit King County, Washington with this definition of equity. It can be found online at www.kingcounty.gov/exec/equity.aspx. 2 For a summary of the early research in this field, see the PolicyLink and Center for American Progress report“Prosperity 2050: Is Equity the Superior Growth Model,”at http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/04/pdf/prosperity_2050.pdf
Inequity Across the Region
The MetroFuture Equity Goals #14: An increasing share of housing in each municipality will be affordable to working families and fixed-income seniors. #15: There will be less regional segregation as all municipalities increasingly reflect Metro Boston’s growing diversity. #16: Low-income households will be able to find affordable, adequate, conveniently located housing, and to avoid displacement. #17: Homelessness will be effectively eliminated from the region. #18: The region’s seniors will have more housing choices and opportunities to downsize while staying in their own communities. #22: Urban and minority residents will not be disproportionately exposed to pollutants and poor air quality #23: All neighborhoods will have adequate access to safe and well-maintained parks, community gardens, and appropriate play spaces for children and youth. #24: Residents in all communities and of all incomes will have access to affordable, healthy food. #26: All residents will have access to affordable healthcare. #27: Children and youth will have access to a strong system of early education programs, after-school programs, teen centers, and youth organizations. #28: Public schools will provide a high- quality education for all students, not only in the fundamentals, but also in areas like health education, physical education, art, music, civics, and science. #29: More students will graduate from high school and go on to college or career training opportunities. #31: The region’s residents – including youth, seniors, and immigrants – will be well-informed and engaged in civic life and community planning. #38: More minority and immigrant workers will have opportunities to advance on the career ladder, acquire assets, and build wealth. #39: More workers will participate in the labor force, earning a living wage through secure employment. #40: Fewer of the region’s residents will live in poverty. #44: An expanded transit system will provide better service to both urban and suburban areas, linking more homes and jobs. #50: People with disabilities will find it easier to get around the region. For a complete list of all 65 MetroFuture goals, as well as more information on the plan development process and recommendations for change, visit www.metrofuture.org. 2
A Shared Vision of an Equitable Region Metro Boston is a vibrant region, providing its over 3 million residents with diverse choices of where to live, work, and play. Strong communities are found in our central city of Boston, and in historic smaller cities, green suburbs, and bucolic agricultural areas. The region offers good jobs in a variety of fields, with particular leadership in the emerging green economy and a long tradition of excellence in research, technology, health care, and education. For recreation, Metro Bostonians enjoy world-class museums and concerts, parks and playgrounds, and an extensive coast line. The region’s strength is evident in its ability to weather the current recession better than many other metropolitan areas, but when we look closely, we see there are deep fissures that threaten to keep the region from attaining its vision for its future. This vision, developed by and for the region’s residents, is outlined in the region’s plan, MetroFuture: Making a Greater Boston Region. One of its key underlying principles is that building a more equitable region, one where all people who live and work in the region will be able to participate and prosper, benefits us all. Looking to 2030, the MetroFuture region is one where racial/ethnic and income-based segregation have decreased, in part because a wider diversity of housing types were built in all of the region’s communities. The region’s historically disadvantaged communities are also healthier, with improved access to medical care, increased access to healthy food and green space, and improved air quality in the region, particularly in urban areas. Healthy and convenient transportation options are available throughout the region, particularly in traditionally underserved areas. A greater emphasis on education and workforce preparedness have ensured that all of the region’s residents are equipped with all of the tools they need to succeed in today’s economy, and supports for small businesses and first-time homeowners will help many in these communities to build wealth for future generations. A list of the specific MetroFuture goals relating to equity is on the facing page. 3
The MetroFuture plan is more than a vision for a better future; within each of these goals there are specific numeric objectives identifying targets for the region in that area. As many of these objectives as possible are tied to a specific indicator, to enable the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) to measure the region’s progress towards meeting its goals. The plan also outlines specific strategies for making this vision a reality, which include hundreds of recommendations for policy and other changes that are necessary for the region to attain its goals. The many components of the plan were developed by MAPC through a collaborative planning process that involved over 5,000 residents, nonprofits, state agencies, and other organizations. To make sure we create the region we envision, it is important to look at how the region is doing by examining how its most vulnerable populations are doing, and the degree to which inequities exist within and between different groups.This report serves as the first in a series of Regional Indicators reports MAPC will release to document the region’s progress towards achieving the MetroFuture goals. Because of the centrality of equity to our vision, the initial indicators report measures the state of equity in the Greater Boston Region. In this, its first release, the report is establishing a baseline, illustrating where the region is now in order to help MAPC track the region’s progress towards achieving the MetroFuture goals. Metro Boston Region Community Types 4 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
What is Equity? “‘Equity’ means all people have full and equal access to opportunities that enable them to attain their full potential.”1 This definition of equity is embodied in the MetroFuture vision for Greater Boston. That vision is one in which every child in the region has a shot at growing up healthy and getting a good job, and every adult, with hard work and perseverance, can look forward to a comfortable retirement. In short, the MetroFuture goals point towards a region where everyone has a fair chance to succeed. Achieving equity does not mean we will all be the same, nor that we will all make the same choices. Men will, on average, continue to be taller than women. Some high school students will choose to play sports while others will participate in the arts; some will do both. These types of differences add to the region’s vibrancy, highlighting our diversity and creating an exciting range of choices for the region’s population. Rather than the differences that enhance the region’s diversity, MetroFuture directs us to eliminate those differences that harm one group and not another, that are unfair, preventable, systematic, and grounded in social, political, and historical factors. These differences do not reflect diversity – they reflect inequity. We focus this report, therefore, on differences that have a structural dimension, that have arisen because of public policy, neighborhood conditions, racism, and other circumstances beyond an individual’s or group’s control. We provide data documenting these differences and supporting information on the social factors that have played a role in creating or exacerbating them. Our goal is to begin to illuminate the difficult topic of inequity in the region so that we can work towards a better future for all the region’s residents. 1  We credit King County, Washington, a pioneer in integrating the social justice and equity perspective into a government agency’s work, with this definition. It can be found in Ordinance 2010-0509“establishing definitions and directing implementation steps related to the fair and just principle of the adopted 2010-2014 countywide strategic plan.”The ordinance, and far more information on King County’s Race and Social Justice Initiative, can be found online at http://www.kingcounty.gov/exec/equity.aspx. 5Inequity Across the Region
Historic Factors Influencing Equity Many of the inequitable outcomes we see in Greater Boston, and around the country, can be traced to a long history of residential segregation. Segregation concentrates poverty, denies residents opportunities for social and economic mobility, and prevents families from achieving the quality of life and prosperity that those who worked to develop MetroFuture hope we all enjoy. It weakens the region by leaving youth unprepared to fill high-skill local jobs, and has been shown to increase crime rates. Despite our awareness of how segregation harms society, racially and economically segregated neighborhoods and schools are still the rule rather than the exception in most of our country’s cities. Why? The segregated residential pattern we see today reflects historic and current political, economic, and interpersonal discrimination - not simply personal preferences for neighborhoods. Since the 19th century, federal and local government actions helped create segregation through racial zoning2 ; restrictive covenants3 , designed to ensure that neighborhoods remained racially homogenous; deed restrictions limiting to whom a house could be sold4 ; and discriminatory lending practices5 , facts the Federal Government has openly acknowledged for over 40 years6 . Socially sanctioned violence against families of color who moved into White neighborhoods was another common tool employed to keep neighborhoods racially homogeneous well into the middle of the 20th century7 8 . Segregated communities gave rise to segregated schools in Greater Boston, as across much of the United States. After the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled intentional school segregation to be unconstitutional in 1954, the vast majority of attempts to desegregate focused on the South, where separation between the races had been codified in law. In Metro Boston, there were several much smaller-scale efforts to desegregate 2  Bittker,“The Case of the Checker-Board Ordinance: An Experiment in Race Relations.” 3  Ware,“Invisible Walls: An Examination of the Legal Strategy of the Restrictive Covenant Cases.” 4  Corrigan v. Buckley. 5  US Commission on Civil Rights,“Understanding Fair Housing.” 6  National Commission on Civil Disorders,“Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders.” 7 Meyer, As Long As They Don’t Move Next Door: Segregation and Racial Conflict in American Neighborhoods. 8  Massey and Denton, American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass. 6 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
schools in the 1960s and 1970s, including the METCO program9 , initiated in 1966. In 2011, this voluntary school desegregation program still enables students of color – mostly African American – in Boston to attend suburban, still largely white schools. In 1974, a federal court found that Boston public school officials had intentionally segregated black and white students. The larger-scale remedy to this widespread segregation, known locally as “busing,” triggered legal and political fights through the 1960s and 1970s. In the program’s tumultuous first year, Boston officials moved 20,000 of its nearly 90,000 students to new schools.10 Boston’s desegregation plan was met with infamous violent protest. Elements of the plan remained in place for many years11 , although school officials adopted a less onerous school choice program that allowed parents more options for where to send their children to school. In 1999, though, officials eliminated race as a factor in deciding where individual Boston children attended school. With few exceptions, neither busing nor other educational desegregation efforts were extended to suburban school districts12 in the North. This followed the 1974 US Supreme Court decision Milliken v. Bradley that prohibited cities from incorporating suburbs into desegregation plans. Milliken, in addition to an array of government incentives that exacerbated middle-class and white flight to the suburbs, cemented the pattern of racial and economic segregation that began in Northern metropolitan areas after the Second World War. In some cities, desegregation plans may have played a role in encouraging white flight, though it is important to note that even cities without these plans experienced similar levels of white flight. Nevertheless, Boston’s rate of white exodus during the busing era was the highest among major cities in the United States. 9 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education,“Metco Program,”http://www.doe.mass.edu/metco/; M.G.L Chapter 76, Section 12A: Plan for attendance in public school to eliminate racial imbalance; adoption; financial and technical assistance, Part I Title XII. 10 Harvard Graduate School of Education,“HGSE News: Busing in Boston--Looking Back at the History and Legacy.” 11 Buell and Brisbin, School desegregation and defended neighborhoods: the Boston controversy. 12 Milliken v. Bradley. 7Inequity Across the Region
Today, the region’s schools and neighborhoods are still segregated, with high performing suburban schools often devoid of Black/African American and Latino students. This is because, while governmentally sanctioned forms of discrimination are much less frequent, contributing structural factors in our society still perpetuate segregation. From fair housing tests showing systematic and persistent discrimination against people of color, to evidence that borrowers of color are more likely to receive subprime mortgage loans, discrimination is still alive and well in the region. We still have a long way to go in combating discrimination and one of its outcomes: a highly segregated region. Why do we see differences based on race? Virtually all scientists agree that race is a social construction rooted in historical and political factors rather than in“natural”differences among people. That is, there are no genetic or biological reasons that some racial/ethnic groups should have worse outcomes than others. Yet race and ethnicity are still powerful predictors of health, education, prosperity, and more. What explains this and what do racial and ethnic categories really mean? According to the federal government, racial categories are useful for“monitoring civil rights related progress in groups that have historically experienced government discrimi- nation” although racial divisions“have no basis in science.” Social factors, therefore, explain why we see stark differences in outcomes by race/ethnicity when there are no biological reasons these disparities should exist. Citation: Lin, S. S.“Use of race and ethnicity in epidemiologic research: concepts, methodological issues, and suggestions for research.” 8 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
About this Report This report serves to document the state of equity in the Greater Boston Region. It establishes a baseline, showing where the region is now to help MAPC track the region’s progress towards achieving MetroFuture’s goals. This report will be followed by other topical regional indicators reports, and these together will help MAPC measure whether the region is moving towards – or away from – its residents’ vision for the future. The indicators can be tracked on the regional indicators website, which includes more detail on each of the indicators, as well as a broader selection of indicators than the 30 presented here. By illuminating key needs, this indicators report will also inform policy recommendations to make a more equitable region. It will be followed by a policy agenda for the State of Equity in Greater Boston, which will build on the MetroFuture and other recommendations for change. Together, the Indicators Report, the regional indicators website, and the policy agenda will provide advocates and policy makers with a set of tools that will enable them to work to build the region we all want Greater Boston to be. We begin this report by providing an overview of the broad demographic changes the region has undergone, and the changes that are likely to come. We then look at the regional context within which these demographic changes are occurring, and begin to see a picture of opportunities and obstacles that are distributed unequally to the region’s residents. The regional context set, the report looks at inequities as they impact the region’s residents at each stage of their lives, from infants and children through the young adult years to adults and then older adults. Each of these four life stages has unique priorities and goals that are common to almost all of us – for example, as children, we are taking the crucial steps towards a lifetime of learning, while also being shaped by our play and good – or bad – health. Because we experience our lives holistically, rather than as a series of“policy silos,”data on housing, transportation, and many other silos are woven together throughout this report.The life stages approach also shows more clearly how advantages – or disadvantages – build on each other throughout a lifetime, and can have a cumulative impact. 9Inequity Across the Region
Learn more about the Indicators Explore Greater Boston Regional indicators data at www. regionalindicators.org/equity. The Regional Indicators site along with the http://www. metrobostondatacommon.org house the indicators covered in this report and many more, and enables all who are interested to dig deeper into the data. Learn more about Boston and its neighborhoods at www.bostonindicators.org. Funded by the Boston Foundation, Greater Boston’s community foundation, the Boston Indicators Project is a project of Boston’s civic community. It offers much of the same data as in this report, but delves deeper into Boston neighborhood conditions and comparisons. To make sure we create the region we envision, it is important to look at how the region is doing by examining how its most vulnerable populations are doing, and the degree to which inequities exist within and between different groups. King County,Washington, has been a pioneer in this work with their Equity and Social Initiative, and MAPC seeks to build on their work. Together, MAPC and a few other regions around the country are starting to build models for how regions can grow sustainably and build prosperity for all their residents – and how they can quantify and measure progress. This report aims to show how the distribution of opportunities and obstacles throughout the region poses serious challenges for many of its residents as they go through their lives. Looking at a broad geography, and across a broad range of topics that impact a demographically diverse region, this report will show how inequities build on each other, both geographically and over the course of our lives.While we have a long way to go to attain our goals, this information should not lead us to feel hopeless. Rather, it is a platform for action, as it will set up key leverage points that are ripe for action. 10 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
A Changing Region: The Demographics of Greater Boston In order to understand the indicators of inequity covered in this report, it is important to see that the Greater Boston region is experiencing substantial demographic change – and even more is coming. The region’s demographic change falls under three broad trends: • The aging of the population overall, and in some communities in particular; • The increasing racial and ethnic diversity of the region, particularly among its youngest residents; and • The growing share of the region’s population that is made up of immigrants. These demographic trends will have huge impacts on the region in the decades to come, and together mean that the face of the region in 2030 will look substantially different than it did in 2010. Metro Boston Population By Race/Ethnicity, Age, and Sex, 2010 Note: Ages are grouped in 10 year intervals, except for children aged 0-14 years old. Source: Census 2010. 85 yrs and older 75-84 yrs 85-74 yrs 55-64 yrs 45-54 yrs 35-44 yrs 25-34 yrs 15-24 yrs 0-14 yrs Male All Others Male White Non-Hispanic Female All Others Female White Non-Hispanic 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% -10.00% -20.00% -30.00% 11
12 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
The Region is Aging The region is aging, with older residents more likely to be White, and the younger population growing more racially and ethnically diverse. In 2000, roughly 21% of the region’s population was 55 or older. By 2010, this percentage had risen four points to 25%. According to demographic projections made for the MetroFuture plan, between 2000 and 2030, the senior population in the MAPC region is projected to increase by 79%, while the total population will increase by only 9%. Over this time period, the proportion of seniors will increase from 10% to 22%. By 2030, the over-65 group will constitute more than one-quarter of the population in 37 out of the 101 communities in Greater Boston. Unlike previous generations, the aging baby boomers are expected to be healthier, more active, better educated, more likely to remain in the workforce, and more likely to participate in community life. The changing demographics will nonetheless have many implications for how we plan for the future. The region’s challenges will include adjusting its social infrastructure, health care, and other services to support healthy and productive aging, and adjusting its physical infrastructure to better accommodate the specific needs of an older population. It is worth reiterating that this growing group of older adults is primarily White, a contrast to the region’s youngest residents who are more racially and ethnically diverse. 13A Changing Region: The Demographics of Metro Boston
14 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
The Region is Growing More Racially and Ethnically Diverse Racial and ethnic minorities account for an increasing share of the region’s population. The most recent Census data available show that Metro Boston has become more diverse overall between 2000 and 2010, with Latinos and Asians13 making up the fastest growing minority groups, while the region’s White residents actually declined as a share of the population. These latest data suggest that suburban areas experienced some of the region’s largest percentage increases in minority group populations, compared to dense urban areas. As the White population ages, youth are increasingly more racially and ethnically diverse. Although over one quarter of the region’s residents are members of racial/ethnic minority groups, just over 40% of the region’s children under age 5 are Black/African American14 , Asian, Latino, Native American, of more than one race, or of another racial/ethnic group. Looking within, rather than between, racial categories, we see that about 25% of the population of the minority groups listed above is under 15, while only 16% of the White population is in this age group – a gap of nearly 10 percentage points. 13 By“Asians,”we mean both immigrants and native-born Americans of Asian descent. 14 There does not seem to be a strong consensus among Blacks/African Americans regarding a preferred racial/ethnic term for self- identification; although, 2007 Gallup data report a higher ranking among this population for the term“Black/African American”over the term“black”for those reporting a preference. We use the term“Black/African American”in the body of the report and are aware that it does not reflect the preference of all or even most individuals identified in this group. These data can be found here: http:// www.gallup.com/search/default.aspx?q=African+American%22+slightly+preferred+among+those+who+have+a+preference&s=& p=1&b=SEARCH. 15A Changing Region: The Demographics of Metro Boston
16 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
The Region is Increasingly Foreign-Born In addition to an aging White population and an increasingly diverse young population, the region has also experienced a growing foreign-born population.The region’s foreign-born population increased since 2000 by an estimated 2 to 3 percentage points.The 2009 American Community Survey shows that about 16% of the population of the Boston Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is foreign-born15 . Looking at the countries of origin for the region’s foreign-born population gives us an indication of the incredible demographic change that the region is undergoing. Over a third of the region’s immigrants were born in Latin America nearly one third were born in Asia, followed by one fifth in Europe. Nearly 10% were born in Africa, and smaller percentages were born elsewhere in North America and in Oceania (e.g., Australia, New Zealand, Fiji) Linguistic isolation is of increasing concern as the region’s foreign-born population grows. Nearly one quarter of the region’s population speaks a language other than English at home, which adds to the region’s vibrant diversity and provide an important economic asset in today’s global economy. This also poses challenges, particularly to the households in Metro Boston that are considered linguistically isolated16 . Of most concern, over one quarter of households that speak Spanish are linguistically isolated, as is the same percentage of households that speak an Asian or Pacific Island language. The foreign-born population of the Metro Boston region increased by slightly less than three percentage points between 2000 and 2009, but this increase was not distributed evenly throughout the region.The increase in the foreign- born population was higher than that of the region in 15% of the MAPC municipalities, including Everett and Malden, which experienced at least an 8 percentage point increase; in a few municipalities, however, the population of foreign-born residents even declined. 15 The foreign-born population includes all those born outside the U.S, including those who later became naturalized US citizens. 16 Linguistically isolated households are households in which“no person age 14 years or over speaks only English and no person age 14 years or over who speaks a language other than English speaks English‘Very well.’”Definition from http://www.doleta.gov/reports/ CensusData/Glossary.cfm. 17A Changing Region: The Demographics of Metro Boston
Limitations of Racial and Ethnic Categories Reporting data by racial and ethnic categories may mask important differences within racial/ethnic groups, especially when data are condensed into broad categories to ensure reliability, as was done in this report. For example, health data are presented for“Latinos”even though residents of Mexi- can versus Dominican descent may have very different asthma rates.“Asians”are also represented as a single group although those of Japanese versus Cambodian heritage may earn vastly different incomes on average. Finally, the experiences of U.S.-born Black/African Americans versus African or Caribbean black immigrants are also quite distinct. While the Census Bureau collects ancestry and nativity information, many other agen- cies do not, and painting a picture of regional equity in broad strokes requires us to combine data in ways that hide potentially important within-group differences. The purpose of including race/ethnicity variables in this report is not to tease out such nuances, however, but to provide an overview of disparities so that we can do better as a region in the future. It can also suggest a future research agenda that looks more deeply into the nuances within groups. 18 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
What Limits Opportunity in the Region? By and large, when we think of equity or inequity, we think of the individual-level factors, such as race/ethnicity, age, or education, that impact our housing, educational resources, jobs opportunities and pay, or health. However, it is not just our own personal characteristics that matter. Inequitable conditions in the region shape our opportunities to enjoy a high quality of life. Inequitable income distribution, highly segregated residential patterns, and continuing discrimination not only harm individuals, but hinder Greater Boston’s potential for equitable growth and prosperity. These larger forces have substantial impacts on communities and individuals throughout each stage of their lives, and are treated here as key drivers of the inequalities that will be discussed later in the report. We highlight segregation and income inequality in a separate chapter because they impact many people, regardless of their life stage. They are also systematic factors that underpin or exacerbate many of the other findings in this report. For example, segregation, particularly when overlaid with poverty, has been shown to have impacts on job access (and, thus, our indicator on labor force participation), school quality (our indicators on school poverty, 3rd grade English Language Arts MCAS scores, and others), and health outcomes (our indicators on open space access, rates of hospitalization due to hypertension, and so on17 ). Many of the same connections, or connections related to other areas of inequity, can be made for income gaps. For this reason, they are presented first, so they can be used as lenses through which to view the rest of the information in the report. 17 Reece and Gambhir,“The Geography of Opportunity: Building Communities of Opportunity in Massachusetts.”(Along with many other reports making these connections - see their survey of other research in the report’s Appendix C.) 19
20 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
Segregation “There will be less regional segregation, as all the region’s municipalities increasingly reflect Metro Boston’s growing diversity.”This is MetroFuture goal #15, and achieving it is critical for the region to achieve many of its other goals. The region is far from achieving this goal however, because it still displays highly segregated residential patterns. The region’s Inner Core has the highest density of minority group residents, with the highest concentration of Blacks/African Americans living in Boston; Latinos living in Chelsea, Everett, and other areas north of Boston; and Asians living in Boston’s Chinatown, Quincy and the Newton-Brookline area. Even within some large cities, such as Boston, residents are still highly segregated from neighborhood to neighborhood. Even more striking than the overall distribution of racial/ethnic groups in the region is the distribution of the region’s children under the age of 14. Examining the concentration of youth by race/ethnicity, we see that White and racial/ethnic minority families rarely raise their children side-by-side in Greater Boston. Black/African American, Asian, Latino, Native American, and other minority group youth are highly concentrated in the Inner Core and Regional Urban Centers, especially in specific neighborhoods of Boston, Chelsea, and Lynn. However, the very neighborhoods with the densest concentrations of racial/ethnic minority youth are nearly absent Whites of the same age. As a result, the region’s youth are more highly segregated than its population overall. Given how strongly neighborhoods influence the opportunities people experience in life, residential segregation helps to explain many of the racial/ethnic disparities children suffer in Greater Boston. Monitoring segregation is key to understanding equity in the region both because it has pervasive negative effects and because it is rooted in federal, state, and local policies. As mentioned earlier, segregation concentrates poverty, denies residents opportunities for social and economic mobility, and perpetuates inequity in the region. It is also reflects historic and current housing and economic policy decisions and income differences by race/ethnicity- not simply personal preferences for neighborhoods. 21What Limits Opportunity in the Region?
Residential segregation has been linked to a wide variety of social ills, including unemployment, violent crime, infant mortality, poverty, social isolation, and more18 . The public health impacts of segregation are particularly striking. A comprehensive review of the evidence through 2009 found that segregation was linked to asthma, obesity, low birth weight, tuberculosis, teen pregnancy, and cancer outcomes and to premature mortality19 . For example, Black/African American young adults living in segregated neighborhoods experienced two to three times the mortality rate of those in integrated areas. Cancer rates are higher for both Blacks/ African Americans and Whites who live in segregated areas than they are for people who live in more integrated neighborhoods. Additionally, living in a segregated neighborhood can also impact the health care one receives. A study of dialysis patients needing kidney transplants found that living in a predominantly Black/African American neighborhood increased waiting time for a transplant for both Blacks/African Americans and Whites. The study also found that clinics in majority Black/African American neighborhoods were less likely than those in other areas to meet performance targets20 . While most of what we know about segregated neighborhoods derives from examining associations, several powerful studies have actually followed minority group families as they moved from segregated inner city areas to places with a higher proportion of White residents. Data from these studies have led many researchers to conclude that segregation actually causes many of the problems we observe in disenfranchised neighborhoods today. A 2004 review of such studies by Harvard researchers found that moving out of segregated neighborhoods resulted in statistically significant improvements in the areas of anxiety, depression, youth problem behavior, cigarette smoking and access, drug use, and violence exposure. Mixed findings on rates of alcohol consumption, and poorer access to health care and services, in some cases, may be attributed to stress, loss of social support, or service disruption that accompanies such a move21 . 18 Bibliography available at: http://enceladus.isr.umich.edu/race/consequences.html. Compiled by the University of Michigan Popula- tion Studies Center. 19 Kramer and Hogue,“Is Segregation Bad for your Health?”. 20 Rodriguez et al.,“Geography Matters: relationships among urban residential segregation, dialysis facilities, and patient outcomes.” 21 Acevedo-Garcia, Meara, and Cutler,“Does Housing Mobility Policy Improve Health?”. 22 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Dissimilarity Index: The Boston region is deeply segregated If the region were completely integrated,White residents would make up an equal share of the population in every neighborhood, matching the region-wide share of about 75%. Similarly, every neighborhood would include about 25% racial/ethnic minorities. However, such an equal distribution of Whites and minority group populations across neighborhoods is far from our current reality. One way to measure segregation is the Dissimilarity Index, which compares two groups, measuring the percentage of the smaller group that would have to move to a different geographic area in order to produce an equal distribution of the smaller group across the area in question. Nearly 62% of all Black/ African American residents of Metro Boston would have to move to a new neighborhood in order to achieve complete integration with Whites, translating to a “dissimilarity index” of roughly .62. Values of .6 and greater are generally considered `high.’ Roughly 60% of all Latino residents of Metro Boston would also have to move to a new neighborhood in order to achieve complete integration with Whites, with the region’s Latino-White dissimilarity index equal to .60 in 2010. The region has made steady progress towards better Black/African American-White integration since 1980, with the dissimilarity index dropping from nearly .75 in 1980. While segregation of the region’s Latino population rose from 1980 - 2000, 2010 shows improved integration from 2000. Because most major metropolitan areas in the United States grapple with persistent segregation, Metro Boston falls roughly in the middle of the pack of similarly sized urban areas in terms of Black/African American- White segregation. In some cities, such as Detroit, MI or Milwaukee,WI, upwards of 80% of Black/African American residents would have to change neighborhoods to achieve complete integration. Keeping in mind that in an integrated region, each neighborhood would be about 75% White, we can also ask how much exposure residents have to people of different races or ethnicities in their neighborhoods. White residents of Metro Boston live in neighborhoods that are, on average, 23What Limits Opportunity in the Region?
24 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
83% White and only 4% Black/African American. Black/African American residents, by contrast, live in neighborhoods that average 43% White and 31% Black/African American. Likewise, Latino residents in Metro Boston lived in neighborhoods that were about 31% Latino, while White residents lived in areas that were roughly 6% Latino. Segregation and isolation, as mentioned above, have the strong effect of concentrating the conditions experienced by each group22 , such that the privileged racial/ethnic groups benefit and disadvantaged racial/ethnic groups suffer. This concentration has a particular impact on aspects of our lives that are organized geographically, from schools (to be discussed later in the document) to real estate markets. A growing body of research is showing the extent to which segregation was a causal factor in the recent foreclosure crisis, and in denial rates for mortgage applications, even among higher-income borrowers. 22 Massey and Fischer,“Does Rising Income Bring Integration?: New Results for Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians in 1990.” 25What Limits Opportunity in the Region?
26 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
Income Inequality MetroFuture calls for increasing regional prosperity that benefits all of the region’s residents. However, given that the region suffers from a great divide between the rich and the poor, it is necessary to do more than merely increase the size of the region’s economic pie - the largest increases must go to those who are traditionally least served by the regional economy. Over the last forty years, the region has echoed national trends as wealth has become concentrated in fewer and fewer hands and upward mobility has become less and less of a reality for many people.The thousands of people who helped create MetroFuture did not see this trend as one they wanted to continue. Rather, they envisioned a more equal society, with a smaller gap between the rich and the poor. And they did not want to achieve that parity by reducing standards of living for those at the top, but rather by raising them for those at the bottom. There are numerous goals in the MetroFuture plan that deal with this issue, both directly, as in the case of goal #39,“more workers will participate in the labor force, earning a living wage through secure employment,” and indirectly, by addressing many of the causes of this inequality, like workforce training and improved education.These goals show the MetroFuture vision is of a region where rising prosperity improves the quality of life for all. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Household Income: Gaps between the richest and the poorest, and between White families and members of minority groups, are large and growing. Greater Boston’s households have high incomes compared to state and national averages, although the recent recession has cut household resources slightly. Greater Boston households earn more (our median is about $71,000) than either the state (roughly $65,500) or national (about $52,000) median household income, according to data from 2008. The recent economic downturn has led to a slight decrease in real income since 1999, but this has not been as severe for the region as it has in the rest of the county. 27What Limits Opportunity in the Region?
28 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
Over the past 30 years, wealth in the region has become increasingly concentrated, creating a smaller group of wealthy families than ever before, while more Greater Bostonians than ever struggle to make ends meet.The poorest fifth of the region’s population currently earns a median income of roughly $20,000 while the richest fifth earn about $212,000 per year.This means that the richest fifth of the population earns, on average, more than 10 times the income of the poorest fifth.This gap is large compared to other Metro Areas, and it’s increasing. In 1979, for example, the median income of the richest fifth was only about six times that of the poorest fifth. The growing gap between the rich and the poor is not the only reason to be concerned about the region’s income inequality. Disparities also exist in household incomes by race and ethnicity. White and Asian households earn significantly more, on average, than Black/African American and Latino households in the region. As shown in the chart above, from 2006-2008 the median income for White and Asian households in the Greater Boston area was nearly $76,000 and $73,000 per year, respectively. In contrast, Black/African American ($43,000) and Latino ($37,000) household median incomes were significantly lower, meaning, at the most extreme, that there is a more than twofold gap between median White and Latino household incomes. As the White population ages and the Latino population grows and moves into adulthood, such gaps will result in large losses to the regional tax base and to the essential financial support adults provide to dependents and organizations in Greater Boston. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality Gini Coefficient: Incomes in Greater Boston are among the least equal in the country To compare Greater Boston’s income distribution to that of other major metro areas, we use a statistic called the Gini Coefficient.The Gini Coefficient can range from 0 to 1, with higher values signifying higher levels of income inequality. For example, a Gini Coefficient of 1 means that one person earns all of the income in the area being measured, and a Gini Coefficient of 0 means that all residents of the area earn exactly the same income.Thus, when the number is higher, a greater share of income is controlled by a smaller number of people, leaving less of the pie for everyone else. 29What Limits Opportunity in the Region?
30 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
Applying this metric to income distribution in our own region, we see that Greater Boston is among the least equal metropolitan areas in the country. From 2006 to 2008, the region had a Gini Coefficient of approximately .47. The United States overall has a Gini Coefficient of .45, meaning income is distributed slightly less equally in Greater Boston than it is in the country as a whole.The high and increasing income inequality that we see locally is part of national, and even global, trends in the concentration of wealth.23 Nationwide, the top 10% of earners currently control over half the wealth in the country, taking the United States back to levels of inequality last seen prior to World War II.24 Unequal income distribution hurts all of us in Greater Boston, with research showing that inequality can make us as a society sicker and increase crime rates, regardless of our poverty rate or average income25 . In short, it is the wide gap in income between rich and poor, not simply poverty, that harms the region. For example, if we compare nations with equal poverty rates, those areas with less equal income distributions have lower life expectancies and higher mortality rates, on average.This is true of developing and developed countries. In terms of crime, researchers studying major U.S. cities have found that a 5% increase in the Gini Coefficient is linked to a 2% increase in the local violent crime rate, a 4% increase in the murder rate, and a 2% increase in car theft.We also know that spending on social programs is lower, educational outcomes are worse, and social cohesion (the quality of social relations in a population) is damaged in unequal areas.26 Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality Tax Structure: Tax policies burden poor families far more than the rich Given that the region suffers from high and increasing income inequality, it is important to look at how public policies impact those at the top and bottom of the income distribution. Looking at tax burdens, we see that Massachusetts’ poorest families pay more than twice as much of their 23 Kawachi,“Income Inequality and Health.” 24 Piketty,“Income Inequality in the United States, 1913-1998.”(Longer updated version published in A.B. Atkinson and T. Piketty eds., Oxford University Press, 2007) (TABLES AND FIGURES UPDATED TO 2008 in Excel format, July 2010). 25 Wilkinson and Pickett, The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger. 26 Kawachi,“Income Inequality and Health.” 31What Limits Opportunity in the Region?
income on taxes as the Commonwealth’s richest families do. The poorest families, who earn less than $20,000 per year, spend about 10% of their total income on taxes while the richest 1%, earning an average of $2.6 million per year, pay less than 5% of their income in taxes. Sales and excise taxes cost the poor about 10 times more than the richest 1% in terms of family income. The poor also pay relatively more for property taxes, but less in income tax. In fact, everyone who makes less than $41,000 pays around 10% of their incomes towards taxes, whereas the top 20% of earners pay considerably less. A high tax burden on low income families relative to wealthy families is referred to as a “regressive tax system” and means that those in the most precarious financial positions spend more of their annual earnings on taxes and have less left over for basic necessities, while those in the strongest financial positions keep a greater share of their income. Such a system prevents families from helping themselves out of poverty, as they are unable to invest or save the income they must spend on taxes. Massachusetts’ regressive tax system largely results from a single rate state income tax structure, which taxes income at the same rate regardless of a taxpayer’s income. We see some variability in income taxes paid because of deductions and credits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit27 . However, the EITC alone is not enough to bridge the gap in tax burdens. While usage of the credit is relatively high, not all who qualify take advantage of it. And not all of those in need are eligible to receive the credit, like people who are out of work, or reap its full benefits, like individuals without children. Another driver of the system’s regressive nature is the sales tax. Sales tax always disproportionately impacts the poorest families, as greater shares of their incomes must go to everyday purchases while wealthy families can invest or save much higher proportions of their earnings. Fortunately, groceries and most clothing purchases are exempt from sales tax in Massachusetts, helping to make its tax structure somewhat fairer. 27 According to IRS.gov,“the Earned Income Tax Credit or the EITC is a refundable federal income tax credit for low to moderate income working individuals and families.”From: http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96406,00.html. 32 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
Part 1 of this report described MetroFuture’s overall vision for the region’s future, gave a sense of the demographic change the region is undergoing, and explained some of the key factors that impact equity across the lives of the region’s residents. Now, in Part 2, we will look at how access to resources and opportunities vary throughout the stages of our lives, resulting in inequitable outcomes that may build over time. In each of the four stages of life – infants and children, teenagers, adults, and older adults – we organize our information by three key activities that tend to occur primarily during that life stage. We look at each activity through the lens of one or more indicators. These activities and indicators have been selected to demonstrate significant elements of inequity in the region, but they are not intended to tell the whole story of each life stage. Inequity Across Life Stages
Inequity Across Life’s Stages Infants and Children: Birth-14 years old Some people say, “We don’t make long-range plans for ourselves – we make them for our children.” MetroFuture calls for a region where children are afforded the opportunity to live their lives to the fullest, through high-quality education, access to spaces and opportunities to play, access to healthcare and the opportunity to begin a healthy lifestyle, and many more goals designed to allow our children to maximize their potential. However, as we have already seen, segregation particularly impacts where we raise our children, with White children and the children of minority groups rarely growing up side-by-side. From birth through childhood, many young people in Greater Boston experience inequity, related to where they live, how much money their families have, and their racial and ethnic backgrounds, three factors that tend to be highly related. This inequity sets some children up with tremendous advantages, and others with substantial obstacles, and it challenges the ability of the region’s residents to realize our collective plans for their future. We believe that growing up healthy, playing, and learning are the cornerstones of childhood. Inequity in each area is explored below. Metro Boston Population By Race/Ethnicity, Age, and Sex, 2010 85 yrs and older 75-84 yrs 65-74 yrs 55-64 yrs 45-54 yrs 35-44 yrs 25-34 yrs 15-24 yrs 0-14 yrs Male All Others Male White Non-Hispanic Female All Others Female White Non-Hispanic 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% -10.00% -20.00% -30.00% Note: Ages are grouped in 10 year intervals, except for children aged 0-14 years old. Source: Census 2010. 34 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
Growing up Healthy Children’s health begins before birth, and can be greatly affected by the environment in which they are raised, as well as their parents’ health and wealth, and many other factors. MetroFuture provides the region with many goals relating to children’s’ health, from goals around access to healthy food (goal #24) and open space (goal #23, discussed at greater length in the next section) to a desire to limit exposure to poor air quality and environmental hazards (goal #22).The goals also include access to regular mental and physical health care (goal #26).Together, achieving these goals will help us to raise healthy and strong children. To assess how the region is doing in this regard, we have selected a few key indicators for analysis. Below, we look at two indicators of childhood health: low birth weight and youth asthma rates. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Low Birth Weight: The children of Black/African American women and the least educated are most likely to be born underweight Thousands of babies in Greater Boston, about 7.8% of all babies born, are born too light each year (under 5.5 pounds). Greater Boston is doing better than the nation overall; 8.2% of all American babies born at less than 5.5 pounds28 . But we still have a long way to go to eliminate differences in the rates of low birth weight that we see across different populations. For the sake of this analysis, we have removed twin and triplet births from our calculations because of their predictably lower weights. The largest disparities in low birth weight are found comparing the experiences of college educated White women (fewer than 4% of all births are under 5.5 pounds) to Black/African American women without a high school education (more than 11% of all births are under 5.5. pounds), although a college education is linked to better birth weights for women of all races and ethnicities. Shockingly, although education is a crucial factor in determining birth weight, a Black/African American woman with a college degree is more likely to have an underweight baby than a White woman with a high school education in Greater Boston. 28 Martin et al., Births: Final data for 2007. 35Inequity Across Life Stages — Infants and Children
36 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators ReportState of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
Children born at a healthy weight have a head start on the path toward growing up strong and doing well in school, while low birth weight babies are more likely than babies born at a normal (or healthy) weight to suffer educational and developmental delays, and to have serious health problems as adults29 . Comparing adults who were born too light to those who were born heavy (9.5 pounds or greater), researchers have found that the low birth weight group has nearly three times the risk of developing adult Type 2 diabetes and six times the risk of developing adult “metabolic syndrome,” a combination of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and glucose intolerance30 . Low birth weight is also a risk factor for wheezing in young children and may increase the risk of developing asthma31 32 . In a vicious cycle, women who were born at low weights themselves are more likely to have low birth weight babies33 . While individual risk factors,such as having twins or triplets,poor nutrition,older age,smoking,and a lack of prenatal care can increase the risk of low birth weight34 , societal-level factors matter too.The disparities Greater Boston experiences,with Black/African American women and the least educated suffering the worst birth outcomes,mirror national trends.Researchers are beginning to understand how social and environmental conditions can increase the risk of having a low birth weight baby,regardless of a mother’s individual risk factors.For example,recent evidence from a study of Eastern Massachusetts births suggests that exposure to traffic pollutants,specifically air pollution associated with motor vehicle sources, increases risks of low birth weight regardless of a mother’s socioeconomic status35 .Living in a poor neighborhood has also been linked to lower birth weight in this and other studies,regardless of a mother’s individual socioeconomic position36 ,though there is variability in outcomes according to both race/ethnicity and country of origin.While these findings are not completely understood, researchers hypothesize that psychological stress is a possible cause.Where a mother lives during her pregnancy isn’t the only factor,either – evidence linking a mother’s lifetime residence in a poor neighborhood to her children being born underweight37 suggests that childhood living conditions must be addressed in order to prevent low birth weight decades later. 29 Boulet, Schieve, and Boyle,“Birth Weight and Health and Developmental Otucomes in U.S. Children, 1997-2005.” 30 Philips, Jones, and Goulden,“Birth weight, stress, and the metabolic syndrome in adult life.” 31 Gold, Diane R.,“POPULATION DISPARITIES IN ASTHMA.” 32 Chatkin, Moema N,“The association between low birthweight and asthma: a systematic literature review.” 33 Sanderson, Emanuel, and Holt,“The intergenerational relationship between mother’s birthweight, infant birthweight and infant mortality in black and White mothers.” 34 “Low birthweight | Professionals | March of Dimes.” 35 Zeka, Melly, and Schwartz,“The effects of socioeconomic status and indices of physical environment on reduced birth weight and preterm births in Eastern Massachusetts.” 36 Janevic et al.,“Neighborhood deprivation and adverse birth outcomes among diverse ethnic groups.” 37 Collins et al.,“Women’s lifelong exposure to neighborhood poverty and low birth weight: a population-based study.” 37Inequity Across Life Stages — Infants and Children
38 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report These maps show that both environmental hazards and youth asthma hospitalizations are concentrated in Metro Boston’s Inner Core.
Disparities in birth weight cost the region tremendously. From 2003 to 2008 alone,more than 11,000 babies (excluding twins and triplets) were born too light in Greater Boston. If all women in the region experienced the same risk of low birth weight that college educated White women do,roughly 3,500 (31%) of these babies would have been born at a healthy weight. Low birth weight babies frequently require extra medical care throughout their lives and have more trouble in school. Further,geographic concentrations of low birth weight, caused by both residential segregation and shared environmental risk factors such as polluted air, burden already-strained neighborhoods with additional medical and educational support needs and family stress. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Youth Asthma Hospitalization Rate: Youth in minority groups are far more likely to be hospitalized for asthma than White youth Asthma hospitalization rates are worse in Greater Boston than in the rest of the state, with Black/African American and Latino children burdened with the highest rates.Within the region, Black/African American youth are hospitalized for asthma at over five times the rate of White youth. This disparity results, at least in part, from the combined impacts of residential segregation during youth and unequal exposure to pollution like environmental hazard sites (including incinerators, hazardous waste dumps, and landfills).These polluting sites threaten our health, have been linked to developmental delays, and perpetuate neighborhood disadvantage by lowering property values and slowing the redevelopment of urban land38 39 40 . We see huge disparities in asthma hospitalization not just because of differences in neighborhood environmental and air quality, but due to disparities in housing quality, access to consistent medical care, and patient and parent education about the importance of taking medication as prescribed. Poorly controlled asthma taxes the health care delivery system, schools, and the employers of parents who must care for sick children, according to researchers. Nationwide, these direct health care expenses and lost work time cost the economy $16 billion annually41 . Eliminating disparities in asthma rates generally,and particularly hospitalization rates for asthma, is one way the region could save health care costs,improve our workforce preparedness, and increase job security for parents. 38 Kiel,“Measuring the Impact of the Discovery and Cleaning of Identified Hazardous Waste Sites on House Values.” 39 “Brownfields | US EPA.” 40 Faber, Daniel R,“Unequal exposure to ecological hazards: environmental injustices in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.” 41 Stillman and Council,“Burden of Asthma.” 39Inequity Across Life Stages — Infants and Children
40 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
Playing The region’s children also need outdoor places to play and run.The MetroFuture goals address this need by calling for an increased network of parks, community gardens, and other places for recreation (goal #23). Such improvements will not only help children, but will also enable us to achieve another crucial MetroFuture goal: that all of the region’s residents build more physical activity into their lives (goal #25). We now look at the quantity and accessibility of open space around the region to see where we are doing well and where we must make progress. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Open Space per Resident: Urban children have worse access to parks than suburban children Based on our local land use analysis, children in Inner Core communities and Regional Urban Centers have less open space in their neighborhoods (per capita) than children in suburban communities42 . For the purposes of this analysis,‘open space’includes all conservation land and outdoor recreational facilities, as classified by MassGIS. Examples of land uses included in this open space definition are walking trails, parks, town commons, school and other playing fields, golf courses, bike paths, some agricultural land, and more. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Distance to the Nearest Park: Many Inner Core communities offer residents open space within walking or biking distance Good access is not just about ample parkland. Many suburban communities offer a tough tradeoff for residents: although there is a great deal of open space, much of it far away from where people live.To understand this issue, we examined how far residents live, on average, from the closest walking trail, play field, or other open space resource. From Littleton to Foxboro along I-495 and across many of our other Developing Suburbs, residents must drive to reach open space despite the fact that these places are rich in acres of conservation and recreation land. On the other hand, much of the Inner Core, many Regional Urban Centers, and the Maturing Suburbs 42 MetroFuture identified four basic community types within the Greater Boston region: Inner Core, Regional Urban Centers, Maturing Suburbs, and Developing Suburbs. For more on each type’s characteristics and a map of the community types in the region, visit http://metrofuture.org/content/metrofutures-community-types. 41Inequity Across Life Stages — Infants and Children
42 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
of Lincoln,Wayland,Weston, and Wellesley offer residents open space resources within walking or biking distance.This is particularly important when thinking about the needs of children, who cannot drive. Nearby open spaces take a burden off parents, and allow older children to travel independently to sports fields, biking paths, or hiking trails. Physical access to open space is not the only factor to consider when looking at a child’s ability to play. Other important factors include safety, both of the equipment in a playground, for example, and of the neighborhood in which it is situated.When local researchers set out to investigate how safe opportunities for play varied across the city of Boston, they found shocking results. Counter to what we might expect, while neighborhoods with the highest concentrations of youth did have the largest number of playgrounds, they offered the least safe playground equipment. Areas with higher concentrations of Black/African American residents, higher rates of youth poverty, and higher percentages of residents without high school degrees were also much more likely to have playgrounds with unsafe equipment than were areas with richer,Whiter, more highly educated populations43 . Low quality or inadequate access to open space impacts the region negatively in terms of health care costs related to a lack of physical activity, increased driving to get to recreation areas, and disparities in property values, which are higher near recreational areas or open space vistas44 . Disparities in open space resources can also limit recreational options for residents. Areas with excellent open space acreage nearby are more likely to also offer diversity in terms of the type and size of open spaces, giving residents options of quiet parks, playgrounds, sports fields, community gardens, and more. 43 Craddock, Angie,“Playground Safety and Access in Boston Neighborhoods.” 44 Sherer,“Why America Needs More City Parks and Open Space.” 43Inequity Across Life Stages — Infants and Children
44 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
Learning Healthy physical growth is only one piece of children’s overall development. Success in school is also key to well being and prosperity later in life. It is also crucial to produce new generations of well-educated workers. From early childhood education (goal #27) to college or other career training (goal #29), the MetroFuture vision for the region’s future is of a region where our children move through a high-functioning and supportive educational system. However, looking at educational measures, we see that poor, racial/ethnic minority group, immigrant, and urban youth face educational disadvantages from an early age. To track those disadvantages, and even begin to explain them, we look at who is attending high-poverty schools and at the region’s scores on the 3rd grade English Language Arts MCAS. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Attendance of High-Poverty Schools: Black/African American and Latino children are disproportionately concentrated in the poorest schools Public funding provides our schools much, but not all, of what they need to educate our children. In addition to their official budgets, public schools often benefit from volunteerism, supplementary fund raising efforts, parental involvement in the classroom, and other financial and social resources leveraged from the surrounding community. School resources therefore vary not only by publicly funded per pupil expenditures, but also by the economic composition of the families whose children are enrolled in the school.The percentage of students eligible for free or reduced price lunch is one indicator of a student body’s economic composition.When more than half of its students are entitled to subsidized lunch, we call a school “high poverty.” Racial/ethnic minority group students are disproportionately concentrated in high poverty schools in the region.While only 8% of primary school students in the commonwealth are Black/African American, 20% of students in poor and high poverty schools are Black/African American. While only 16% of primary students are Latino, 42% of students in poor and 45Inequity Across Life Stages — Infants and Children
46 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
high poverty schools are Latino. Asians make up 5% of the primary school student population overall and 6% of the student population in poor and high poverty schools.These disparities mean that nearly three quarters of Black/African American and Latino students attend a high poverty school while just over 10% of Whites do. Over one third of Asian students attend poor and high poverty schools. Attending high poverty schools has been linked to students’ lower academic achievement, regardless of each family’s level of resources.That is, both poor and well-off students do worse in high poverty schools than they do in low poverty schools45 . If parental income were the key variable determining student performance, wealthy children would do equally well in schools shared with poor classmates as they would in schools shared with middle and high income classmates.This is not what we see, however. Concentrated poverty in a school harms all the children attending that school, in part because high poverty schools tend to have fewer highly qualified teachers, worse student performance on national tests, higher dropout rates, and lower rates of students enrolling in college than do schools in which a smaller percentage of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches46 . Students who come from impoverished families and attend high poverty schools have been shown to be at the worst disadvantage. Residential segregation is one of the root causes of the disproportionate concentration of members of racial/ethnic minority groups in high poverty schools.Those municipalities with the highest concentrations of racial/ ethnic minority youth are also home to some of the region’s poorest schools, while the suburban areas predominantly populated with White children enjoy very low school poverty rates.The most extreme disparities exist among schools located in Chelsea and Lynn, where over 75% of public primary school students are entitled to free or subsidized lunch, and those in Carlisle and Dover, where less than 1% of the primary school students qualify for free or subsidized meals. While the issue of community and family resources in a school is important, the question of the school’s access to resources is also of concern. 45 Anderson,“Re-Examining the Relationship between School Poverty and Student Achievement.” 46 McArdle, Osypuk, and Acevedo-Garcia,“Segregation and Exposure to High-Poverty Schools in Large Metropolitan Areas: 2008-09.” 47Inequity Across Life Stages — Infants and Children
48 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
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Equity-Report_12-14_150ppi

  • 1. State of Equity in Metro Boston I n d i c ato r s R e p o rt December 2011
  • 2. Authors: Mariana Arcaya and Jessie Grogan Contributors: Eric Bourassa, Chris Brown, Amy Cotter, Marc Draisen, Jennifer Erickson, Barry Fradkin, Jamila Henderson, Haidee Janak, Amanda Linehan, Jennifer Raitt, Christian Spanring, Holly St. Clair, Victoria Wolff Advisory Committee Dolores Acevedo-Garcia, Northeastern University Institute on Urban Health Research Randy Albelda, UMass-Boston Center for Social Policy Gene Benson, Alternatives for Community and Environment Tracy Brown, Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston Claudia Green, Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition David Harris, Harvard Law School Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice Marcia Hohn, The Immigrant Learning Center, Inc. Charlotte Kahn, The Boston Foundation Nancy McArdle, diversitydata.org Jan Mutchler, UMASS-Boston Gerontology Institute Tom Shapiro, Brandeis Heller School of Social Policy Rebecca Shuster, Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination Mary Skelton Roberts, Barr Foundation Meira Soloff, Action for Regional Equity Richard Walker III, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Design: Jason Fairchild, The Truesdale Group Special Thanks: PolicyLink and the Central Transportation Planning Staff (CTPS) Support From: The Barr Foundation About MAPC: The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) is a regional planning agency serving the people who live and work in Metropolitan Boston. Our mission is to promote smart growth and regional collaboration, which includes protecting the environment, supporting economic development, encouraging sustainable land use, improving transportation, bolstering affordable housing, ensuring public safety, advancing equity and opportunity among people of all backgrounds, and fostering collaboration among municipalities. ii
  • 3. Executive Summary v Key Findings viii Part 1: Inequity Across the Region 1. A Shared Vision of an Equitable Region 2 The MetroFuture Equity Goals 2 What is Equity? 5 Historic Factors Influencing Equity 6 About this Report 9 2. A Changing Region: The Demographics of Metro Boston 11 The Region is Aging 13 The Region is Growing More Racially and Ethnically Diverse 15 The Region is Increasingly Foreign-Born 17 3. What Limits Opportunity in the Region? 19 Segregation 21 Dissimilarity Index Income Inequality 27 Household Income Gini Coefficient Tax Burden as a Percent of Family Income Part 2: Inequity Across Life’s Stages 4. Infants and Children 34 Growing up Healthy 35 Low Birth Weight Youth Asthma Hospitalization Rate Playing 41 Open Space per 1,000 Residents Distance to the Nearest Open Space Learning 45 Attendance of High-Poverty Schools 3rd Grade English Language Arts MCAS Scores iii
  • 4. 5. Teenagers and Young Adults 52 Learning 53 10th Grade Math MCAS Scores High School Graduation Rates High School Dropout Rates Staying Safe and out of Trouble 61 Exclusionary Discipline Rates Violent Crime Rates Establishing Independence 67 High School Students’ Plans for After Graduation Young Adults’ Access to Transit 6. Adults 71 Making a Good Living 72 Educational Attainment Rates Labor Force Participation Rates Poverty Rates Building a Home 83 Housing Affordability Housing Cost Burden Foreclosure Rates Home Loan Denial Rates Staying Healthy 93 Premature Mortality Rates Hospitalizations due to Hypertension 7. Older Adults 98 Remaining Active 99 Transit and Sidewalk Access for Seniors Paratransit Services Retiring Comfortably 107 Poverty Rates, Revisited Staying Connected 111 Dissimilarity Index for Nursing Homes Conclusion 112 References 114 iv
  • 5. The MetroFuture region is one where: • A wider diversity of housing types are built in all communities (Goal #16), helping to combat segregation based on race, ethnicity, and income (Goal #15). • Health outcomes improve for residents of historically disadvantaged communities, with increased access to healthy food “(Goal #24), green space (Goal #23), better air quality (Goal #22), and medical care (Goal #26). • More convenient transportation options, leading to a healthier lifestyle, are available throughout the region, particularly in traditionally under-served areas (Goal #44). • All of the region’s residents are equipped with all of the tools they need to succeed in tomorrow’s economy (Goal #29), and small business owners and first-time homebuyers have the resources to build wealth for future generations (Goal #38). The MetroFuture Equity Goals MetroFuture directs us to achieve this vision by eliminating unfair, preventable, and systematic differences between groups that not only harm individuals and families, but threaten the vibrancy of our region. We believe that a focus on equity will make our region not only more just, but also more prosperous for all its residents. The State of Equity in Metro Boston e x e c u t i v e s u m m a ry So, what is the state of equity in Metro Boston? To create MetroFuture, the region’s plan for growth through the year 2030, thousands of people came together to talk about the future they wanted for their region. These “plan builders” shared a common vision of an equitable region where “all people have full and equal access to opportunities that enable them to attain their full potential.” 1 December 2011
  • 6. We are Becoming More Diverse Metro Boston is changing. These demographic trends will have huge impacts on the region in decades to come, and the face of the region in 2030 will look substantially different than it does now. • Our older population is growing • The youngest among us are our most diverse residents • We are increasingly foreign-born Children as they try to grow up healthy, learn, and play White children and children of color rarely grow up side-by-side in Metro Boston. Children of color are highly concentrated in the region’s urban areas — areas that are nearly absent Whites the same age. Young adults as they try to learn, stay safe, and establish independence Black/African American and Latino teens enter the workforce less prepared for the region’s knowledge economy. Dropout rates for Black/African American and Latino teens are vastly higher than those for Whites and Asians. Inequity Impacts Us …
  • 7. …At Each Stage of Our Lives We are Becoming Less Equal Segregation and income inequality harm individuals throughout their lives and leave Metro Boston less able to compete on the global stage with more equitable regions. These factors also underpin or exacerbate many of the inequalities highlighted in this report. • Income inequality is high and growing in Metro Boston • The region remains highly segregated • Our regressive tax structure worsens income inequality Seniors as they try to remain active, retire comfortably, and stay connected Blacks/African Americans die prematurely at more than one and a half times the rate of whites. Grandparents raising grandchildren are especially impacted by poverty. About half of all renters in the region are cost- burdened by housing. Adults as they try to make a good living, build a home, and stay healthy The foreclosure crisis hit urban and minority neighborhoods first and hardest.
  • 8. Key Findings The State of Equity in Metro Boston is the first in a series of indicator reports that will monitor the region’s progress towards achieving goals set out by the MetroFuture plan. It will be followed by a policy report that will outline key recommendations to help ensure that the region is on track to meet its goals. It is a “baseline report” that establishes the numbers against which progress will be measured. We’ve taken a snapshot of the region as it looks right now, and future reports will tell us more clearly whether we are moving towards our goals — or away from them. We highlight equity-related goals first, because meeting them is crucial to achieving the vibrant region envisioned in MetroFuture. Each of the 65 MetroFuture goals is supported by a set of more specific, and largely numeric, objectives. As many objectives as possible are tied to indicators, which are regularly collected data points that form the basis of our analysis. For example: MetroFuture Goal #29: More workers will graduate from high school and go on to college or career training opportunities. Objective: 98% of 25 -34 year olds will have a high school diploma or equivalent (up from 91% today, and 89% if Current Trends continue). Objective: 90% of high school graduates will go on to 2- or 4-year college (up from 79% today). Objective: Only 10% of graduates from public high schools will need to take remedial courses during their first year of college (down from 37% today). Objective: 91% of all working-age adults (ages 25-65) will have a high school diploma or equivalent, up from 90% today and 85% if current trends continue. Indicator: Educational attainment rates viii State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 9. The MetroFuture plan includes hundreds of indicators, of which we chose the thirty that best tell the story of equity in the region. In addition, the indicators selected are updated regularly and cover the entire region in detail, making them benchmarks we can revisit in years to come to track our progress. To add greater depth to each indicator, we “slice” the data in several ways. For example, we look at the data by race/ethnicity and/or by geography, comparing results across municipalities or census tracts, or occasionally comparing the region as a whole to other regions. Other “slices” you will see regularly in our data are gender, age, and income, although they are not the only ones we use. This enables us to look at each indicator from a variety of perspectives. The indicators we address in this report do not simply stand on their own. Conditions described by each indicator can interact with or exacerbate conditions described by others. The reader will notice that some geographic areas suffer from negative outcomes across a variety of indicators, as do some racial or ethnic groups. The overlay of concentrated poverty with racial/ethnic segregation can worsen the challenges created by each. For that reason, it is important to take a look across the indicators in the report as a whole. On the following pages, you will see a list of the equity-related indicators we have measured and will revisit regularly moving forward. For each indicator, we summarize key findings and provide an icon indicating its topic area. The icons, listed in the key below, will enable those interested in learning more to find each indicator easily on the regional indicators website. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation De Ec Ed En Ho Pu Pu Tra Regional Indicators Issue Areas ixKey Findings
  • 10. Inequity Across the Region Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Dissimilarity Index – segregation Over 60% of Black/African American residents of Metro Boston would have to move to a new neighborhood to achieve complete integration with Whites. Roughly 60% of all Latino residents of Metro Boston would have to move to a new neighborhood in order to achieve complete integration with Whites. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Household Income The richest fifth of the population earns, on average, more than 10 times the income of the poorest fifth. There is a more than twofold gap between median White and Latino household incomes. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Gini Coefficient of Income Inequality Incomes are distributed less equitably in Metro Boston than in 85% of the metro areas in the US. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Tax Burden as a Percent of Family Income Massachusetts’ poorest families pay more than twice as much of their income on taxes as do the Commonwealth’s richest families. Inequity Impacts Children Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Low Birth Weight A Black/African American woman with a college degree is more likely to have an underweight baby than is a White woman with a high school education. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Youth Asthma Hospitalization Rate Black/African American youth are hospitalized for asthma at over five times the rate of White youth. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Open Space per 1,000 Residents Inner Core communities and Regional Urban Centers have less open space in their neighborhoods (per capita) than do suburban communities. Issue Area Indicator Key Finding x State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 11. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Distance to the Nearest Open Space Much of the Inner Core, many Regional Urban Centers, and some Maturing Suburbs offer residents open space resources within walking or biking distance. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Attendance of High- Poverty Schools Nearly three quarters of Black/African American and Latino students attend high-poverty schools, while just over 10% of Whites do. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL 3rd Grade English Language Arts MCAS Scores A gap of nearly 40 percentage points separates White and Black/African American children in third grade reading proficiency rates. Inequity Impacts Teenagers Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL 10th Grade Math MCAS Scores White and Asian 10th graders score “proficient” or “advanced” on the math MCAS at rates nearly double those of Latinos and Blacks/African Americans. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL High School Graduation Rates Greater Boston suffers from dramatic disparities in graduation rates by school district, with rates ranging from 54% in Chelsea to 98-100% in many other districts. More than 90% of the region’s White and Asian students graduate in four years, while slightly more than 70% of Black/African American and 75% of Latino students do. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL High School Dropout Rates Dropout rates for Blacks/African Americans and Latinos in the region are at least three times as high as those for Whites and Asians. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality Exclusionary Discipline Rates Predominantly White school districts have an out-of-school suspension rate of about 4%, while more diverse districts have out-of-school suspension rates of nearly 15%. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Violent Crime Rates Boston,Chelsea,and Lynn experience,on average,five violent crimes per 1,000 residents,while many suburban municipalities suffer fewer than 1.5 crimes per 1,000 residents. Issue Area Indicator Key Finding xiKey Findings
  • 12. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL High School Students’ Plans for After Graduation A third of students in predominantly White districts plan to attend a 4-year public college, while less than a quarter of students in more diverse districts have the same plan. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Young adults’ access to MBTA transit Well over three quarters of the areas with high concentrations of teens and young adults (25% or more), are within a quarter mile of MBTA transit. Inequity Impacts Adults Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Educational Attainment Rates While fewer than 10% of Whites lack a high school diploma, roughly 35% of Latinos have not completed high school. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Labor Force Participation Rates While only 65% of those lacking a high school degree are active in the labor force, 88% of those with a bachelor’s degree are. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Poverty Rates Nearly 25% of Latinos, nearly 20% of Blacks/African Americans, and over 15% of Asians in our region live in poverty compared to 6% of Whites While fewer than 10% of families overall earn less than 130% of the poverty line, more than 25% of female-headed households with no spouse present earn less than that amount. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Housing Affordability Over 60% of the poorest households are living in unaffordable housing, defined as housing that costs more than 30% of gross household income. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Housing Cost Burden About half of the renters in Massachusetts pay more than 30% of their income on rent. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Foreclosure Rates Foreclosure rates were 10% or higher within parts of Roxbury and the South End between January 2007 and June 2008. Issue Area Indicator Key Finding xii State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 13. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Home Loan Denial Rates In many low-income Boston neighborhoods, as well as Randolph, Rockland, and Chelsea, more than 40% of high- income buyers are unable to get loans for home purchases. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Premature Mortality Rates Blacks/African Americans die prematurely at three times the rate of Asians and one and a half times the rate of Whites. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Hospitalizations due to High Blood Pressure The rate of hospitalization for hypertension is more than seven times as high for Inner Core Blacks/African Americans as it is for suburban Whites. Inequity Impacts Seniors Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Transit and Sidewalk Access for Seniors The concentration of seniors is over twice as high in sections of Framingham and Weymouth as it is in the region overall, yet these areas offer seniors limited transportation options. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Transportation Services for Seniors Most of the communities offering multiple paratransit options for seniors already have train or commuter rail access, whereas the municipalities with only 1 or 2 shuttles tend to be farther from the city where such services are needed most. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Poverty Rates for Seniors Nearly 35% of Latino households headed by a senior bring in less than $10,000 per year, while just under 8% of White households are in this lowest income category. 14% of grandparents who are the primary caregivers for their grandchildren live in poverty compared with rates of only 9% of the region’s residents overall. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality Dissimilarity Index for Nursing Homes About 65% of Black/African American nursing home residents would have to move to a new facility in order to achieve integration with White nursing home residents. Issue Area Indicator Key Finding xiiiKey Findings
  • 14. United We Stand... Or Divided We Fall Persistent inequality is bad for all of us. Societies with large gaps between the rich and the poor struggle more with social ills — like crime and poor health — than do their more equal counterparts. And while it is a new field of research, academics are starting to examine the impact that inequality and segregation have on economic growth. Early studies have shown that there is a correlation between equity and economic growth, and that reductions in poverty in central cities can correspond with stronger regional economic growth.2 So, as we work towards the MetroFuture goals for a healthy, secure, and prosperous future for Metro Boston, we must incorporate equity at the heart of that work. We do this not only because it is a fundamental value of our society, but also because our future stability and prosperity as a region depend on it. About this report The State of Equity in Metro Boston is made up of three complementary products: The State of Equity in Metro Boston is the first in a series of indicator reports that will monitor the region’s progress towards achieving goals set out by the MetroFuture plan. The regional indicators website provides data on the key findings presented in this report, and many other indicators, in an interactive, dynamic format. The policy report will identify key policy and programmatic recommendations to “bend the trends” towards greater regional equity. MAPC will reach out to a wide variety of stakeholders in translating our data findings to policy; stay in touch to learn more. Learn more About the data behind the indicators — www.regionalindicators.org/equity About the MetroFuture plan — www.metrofuture.org About MAPC and its work — www.mapc.org About MAPC The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) is a regional planning agency serving the people who live and work in Metropolitan Boston. Our mission is to promote smart growth and regional collaboration, which includes protecting the environment, supporting economic development, encouraging sustainable land use, improving transportation, bolstering affordable housing, ensuring public safety, advancing equity and opportunity among people of all backgrounds, and fostering collaboration among municipalities. 1 We credit King County, Washington with this definition of equity. It can be found online at www.kingcounty.gov/exec/equity.aspx. 2 For a summary of the early research in this field, see the PolicyLink and Center for American Progress report“Prosperity 2050: Is Equity the Superior Growth Model,”at http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/04/pdf/prosperity_2050.pdf
  • 16. The MetroFuture Equity Goals #14: An increasing share of housing in each municipality will be affordable to working families and fixed-income seniors. #15: There will be less regional segregation as all municipalities increasingly reflect Metro Boston’s growing diversity. #16: Low-income households will be able to find affordable, adequate, conveniently located housing, and to avoid displacement. #17: Homelessness will be effectively eliminated from the region. #18: The region’s seniors will have more housing choices and opportunities to downsize while staying in their own communities. #22: Urban and minority residents will not be disproportionately exposed to pollutants and poor air quality #23: All neighborhoods will have adequate access to safe and well-maintained parks, community gardens, and appropriate play spaces for children and youth. #24: Residents in all communities and of all incomes will have access to affordable, healthy food. #26: All residents will have access to affordable healthcare. #27: Children and youth will have access to a strong system of early education programs, after-school programs, teen centers, and youth organizations. #28: Public schools will provide a high- quality education for all students, not only in the fundamentals, but also in areas like health education, physical education, art, music, civics, and science. #29: More students will graduate from high school and go on to college or career training opportunities. #31: The region’s residents – including youth, seniors, and immigrants – will be well-informed and engaged in civic life and community planning. #38: More minority and immigrant workers will have opportunities to advance on the career ladder, acquire assets, and build wealth. #39: More workers will participate in the labor force, earning a living wage through secure employment. #40: Fewer of the region’s residents will live in poverty. #44: An expanded transit system will provide better service to both urban and suburban areas, linking more homes and jobs. #50: People with disabilities will find it easier to get around the region. For a complete list of all 65 MetroFuture goals, as well as more information on the plan development process and recommendations for change, visit www.metrofuture.org. 2
  • 17. A Shared Vision of an Equitable Region Metro Boston is a vibrant region, providing its over 3 million residents with diverse choices of where to live, work, and play. Strong communities are found in our central city of Boston, and in historic smaller cities, green suburbs, and bucolic agricultural areas. The region offers good jobs in a variety of fields, with particular leadership in the emerging green economy and a long tradition of excellence in research, technology, health care, and education. For recreation, Metro Bostonians enjoy world-class museums and concerts, parks and playgrounds, and an extensive coast line. The region’s strength is evident in its ability to weather the current recession better than many other metropolitan areas, but when we look closely, we see there are deep fissures that threaten to keep the region from attaining its vision for its future. This vision, developed by and for the region’s residents, is outlined in the region’s plan, MetroFuture: Making a Greater Boston Region. One of its key underlying principles is that building a more equitable region, one where all people who live and work in the region will be able to participate and prosper, benefits us all. Looking to 2030, the MetroFuture region is one where racial/ethnic and income-based segregation have decreased, in part because a wider diversity of housing types were built in all of the region’s communities. The region’s historically disadvantaged communities are also healthier, with improved access to medical care, increased access to healthy food and green space, and improved air quality in the region, particularly in urban areas. Healthy and convenient transportation options are available throughout the region, particularly in traditionally underserved areas. A greater emphasis on education and workforce preparedness have ensured that all of the region’s residents are equipped with all of the tools they need to succeed in today’s economy, and supports for small businesses and first-time homeowners will help many in these communities to build wealth for future generations. A list of the specific MetroFuture goals relating to equity is on the facing page. 3
  • 18. The MetroFuture plan is more than a vision for a better future; within each of these goals there are specific numeric objectives identifying targets for the region in that area. As many of these objectives as possible are tied to a specific indicator, to enable the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) to measure the region’s progress towards meeting its goals. The plan also outlines specific strategies for making this vision a reality, which include hundreds of recommendations for policy and other changes that are necessary for the region to attain its goals. The many components of the plan were developed by MAPC through a collaborative planning process that involved over 5,000 residents, nonprofits, state agencies, and other organizations. To make sure we create the region we envision, it is important to look at how the region is doing by examining how its most vulnerable populations are doing, and the degree to which inequities exist within and between different groups.This report serves as the first in a series of Regional Indicators reports MAPC will release to document the region’s progress towards achieving the MetroFuture goals. Because of the centrality of equity to our vision, the initial indicators report measures the state of equity in the Greater Boston Region. In this, its first release, the report is establishing a baseline, illustrating where the region is now in order to help MAPC track the region’s progress towards achieving the MetroFuture goals. Metro Boston Region Community Types 4 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 19. What is Equity? “‘Equity’ means all people have full and equal access to opportunities that enable them to attain their full potential.”1 This definition of equity is embodied in the MetroFuture vision for Greater Boston. That vision is one in which every child in the region has a shot at growing up healthy and getting a good job, and every adult, with hard work and perseverance, can look forward to a comfortable retirement. In short, the MetroFuture goals point towards a region where everyone has a fair chance to succeed. Achieving equity does not mean we will all be the same, nor that we will all make the same choices. Men will, on average, continue to be taller than women. Some high school students will choose to play sports while others will participate in the arts; some will do both. These types of differences add to the region’s vibrancy, highlighting our diversity and creating an exciting range of choices for the region’s population. Rather than the differences that enhance the region’s diversity, MetroFuture directs us to eliminate those differences that harm one group and not another, that are unfair, preventable, systematic, and grounded in social, political, and historical factors. These differences do not reflect diversity – they reflect inequity. We focus this report, therefore, on differences that have a structural dimension, that have arisen because of public policy, neighborhood conditions, racism, and other circumstances beyond an individual’s or group’s control. We provide data documenting these differences and supporting information on the social factors that have played a role in creating or exacerbating them. Our goal is to begin to illuminate the difficult topic of inequity in the region so that we can work towards a better future for all the region’s residents. 1  We credit King County, Washington, a pioneer in integrating the social justice and equity perspective into a government agency’s work, with this definition. It can be found in Ordinance 2010-0509“establishing definitions and directing implementation steps related to the fair and just principle of the adopted 2010-2014 countywide strategic plan.”The ordinance, and far more information on King County’s Race and Social Justice Initiative, can be found online at http://www.kingcounty.gov/exec/equity.aspx. 5Inequity Across the Region
  • 20. Historic Factors Influencing Equity Many of the inequitable outcomes we see in Greater Boston, and around the country, can be traced to a long history of residential segregation. Segregation concentrates poverty, denies residents opportunities for social and economic mobility, and prevents families from achieving the quality of life and prosperity that those who worked to develop MetroFuture hope we all enjoy. It weakens the region by leaving youth unprepared to fill high-skill local jobs, and has been shown to increase crime rates. Despite our awareness of how segregation harms society, racially and economically segregated neighborhoods and schools are still the rule rather than the exception in most of our country’s cities. Why? The segregated residential pattern we see today reflects historic and current political, economic, and interpersonal discrimination - not simply personal preferences for neighborhoods. Since the 19th century, federal and local government actions helped create segregation through racial zoning2 ; restrictive covenants3 , designed to ensure that neighborhoods remained racially homogenous; deed restrictions limiting to whom a house could be sold4 ; and discriminatory lending practices5 , facts the Federal Government has openly acknowledged for over 40 years6 . Socially sanctioned violence against families of color who moved into White neighborhoods was another common tool employed to keep neighborhoods racially homogeneous well into the middle of the 20th century7 8 . Segregated communities gave rise to segregated schools in Greater Boston, as across much of the United States. After the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled intentional school segregation to be unconstitutional in 1954, the vast majority of attempts to desegregate focused on the South, where separation between the races had been codified in law. In Metro Boston, there were several much smaller-scale efforts to desegregate 2  Bittker,“The Case of the Checker-Board Ordinance: An Experiment in Race Relations.” 3  Ware,“Invisible Walls: An Examination of the Legal Strategy of the Restrictive Covenant Cases.” 4  Corrigan v. Buckley. 5  US Commission on Civil Rights,“Understanding Fair Housing.” 6  National Commission on Civil Disorders,“Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders.” 7 Meyer, As Long As They Don’t Move Next Door: Segregation and Racial Conflict in American Neighborhoods. 8  Massey and Denton, American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass. 6 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 21. schools in the 1960s and 1970s, including the METCO program9 , initiated in 1966. In 2011, this voluntary school desegregation program still enables students of color – mostly African American – in Boston to attend suburban, still largely white schools. In 1974, a federal court found that Boston public school officials had intentionally segregated black and white students. The larger-scale remedy to this widespread segregation, known locally as “busing,” triggered legal and political fights through the 1960s and 1970s. In the program’s tumultuous first year, Boston officials moved 20,000 of its nearly 90,000 students to new schools.10 Boston’s desegregation plan was met with infamous violent protest. Elements of the plan remained in place for many years11 , although school officials adopted a less onerous school choice program that allowed parents more options for where to send their children to school. In 1999, though, officials eliminated race as a factor in deciding where individual Boston children attended school. With few exceptions, neither busing nor other educational desegregation efforts were extended to suburban school districts12 in the North. This followed the 1974 US Supreme Court decision Milliken v. Bradley that prohibited cities from incorporating suburbs into desegregation plans. Milliken, in addition to an array of government incentives that exacerbated middle-class and white flight to the suburbs, cemented the pattern of racial and economic segregation that began in Northern metropolitan areas after the Second World War. In some cities, desegregation plans may have played a role in encouraging white flight, though it is important to note that even cities without these plans experienced similar levels of white flight. Nevertheless, Boston’s rate of white exodus during the busing era was the highest among major cities in the United States. 9 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education,“Metco Program,”http://www.doe.mass.edu/metco/; M.G.L Chapter 76, Section 12A: Plan for attendance in public school to eliminate racial imbalance; adoption; financial and technical assistance, Part I Title XII. 10 Harvard Graduate School of Education,“HGSE News: Busing in Boston--Looking Back at the History and Legacy.” 11 Buell and Brisbin, School desegregation and defended neighborhoods: the Boston controversy. 12 Milliken v. Bradley. 7Inequity Across the Region
  • 22. Today, the region’s schools and neighborhoods are still segregated, with high performing suburban schools often devoid of Black/African American and Latino students. This is because, while governmentally sanctioned forms of discrimination are much less frequent, contributing structural factors in our society still perpetuate segregation. From fair housing tests showing systematic and persistent discrimination against people of color, to evidence that borrowers of color are more likely to receive subprime mortgage loans, discrimination is still alive and well in the region. We still have a long way to go in combating discrimination and one of its outcomes: a highly segregated region. Why do we see differences based on race? Virtually all scientists agree that race is a social construction rooted in historical and political factors rather than in“natural”differences among people. That is, there are no genetic or biological reasons that some racial/ethnic groups should have worse outcomes than others. Yet race and ethnicity are still powerful predictors of health, education, prosperity, and more. What explains this and what do racial and ethnic categories really mean? According to the federal government, racial categories are useful for“monitoring civil rights related progress in groups that have historically experienced government discrimi- nation” although racial divisions“have no basis in science.” Social factors, therefore, explain why we see stark differences in outcomes by race/ethnicity when there are no biological reasons these disparities should exist. Citation: Lin, S. S.“Use of race and ethnicity in epidemiologic research: concepts, methodological issues, and suggestions for research.” 8 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 23. About this Report This report serves to document the state of equity in the Greater Boston Region. It establishes a baseline, showing where the region is now to help MAPC track the region’s progress towards achieving MetroFuture’s goals. This report will be followed by other topical regional indicators reports, and these together will help MAPC measure whether the region is moving towards – or away from – its residents’ vision for the future. The indicators can be tracked on the regional indicators website, which includes more detail on each of the indicators, as well as a broader selection of indicators than the 30 presented here. By illuminating key needs, this indicators report will also inform policy recommendations to make a more equitable region. It will be followed by a policy agenda for the State of Equity in Greater Boston, which will build on the MetroFuture and other recommendations for change. Together, the Indicators Report, the regional indicators website, and the policy agenda will provide advocates and policy makers with a set of tools that will enable them to work to build the region we all want Greater Boston to be. We begin this report by providing an overview of the broad demographic changes the region has undergone, and the changes that are likely to come. We then look at the regional context within which these demographic changes are occurring, and begin to see a picture of opportunities and obstacles that are distributed unequally to the region’s residents. The regional context set, the report looks at inequities as they impact the region’s residents at each stage of their lives, from infants and children through the young adult years to adults and then older adults. Each of these four life stages has unique priorities and goals that are common to almost all of us – for example, as children, we are taking the crucial steps towards a lifetime of learning, while also being shaped by our play and good – or bad – health. Because we experience our lives holistically, rather than as a series of“policy silos,”data on housing, transportation, and many other silos are woven together throughout this report.The life stages approach also shows more clearly how advantages – or disadvantages – build on each other throughout a lifetime, and can have a cumulative impact. 9Inequity Across the Region
  • 24. Learn more about the Indicators Explore Greater Boston Regional indicators data at www. regionalindicators.org/equity. The Regional Indicators site along with the http://www. metrobostondatacommon.org house the indicators covered in this report and many more, and enables all who are interested to dig deeper into the data. Learn more about Boston and its neighborhoods at www.bostonindicators.org. Funded by the Boston Foundation, Greater Boston’s community foundation, the Boston Indicators Project is a project of Boston’s civic community. It offers much of the same data as in this report, but delves deeper into Boston neighborhood conditions and comparisons. To make sure we create the region we envision, it is important to look at how the region is doing by examining how its most vulnerable populations are doing, and the degree to which inequities exist within and between different groups. King County,Washington, has been a pioneer in this work with their Equity and Social Initiative, and MAPC seeks to build on their work. Together, MAPC and a few other regions around the country are starting to build models for how regions can grow sustainably and build prosperity for all their residents – and how they can quantify and measure progress. This report aims to show how the distribution of opportunities and obstacles throughout the region poses serious challenges for many of its residents as they go through their lives. Looking at a broad geography, and across a broad range of topics that impact a demographically diverse region, this report will show how inequities build on each other, both geographically and over the course of our lives.While we have a long way to go to attain our goals, this information should not lead us to feel hopeless. Rather, it is a platform for action, as it will set up key leverage points that are ripe for action. 10 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 25. A Changing Region: The Demographics of Greater Boston In order to understand the indicators of inequity covered in this report, it is important to see that the Greater Boston region is experiencing substantial demographic change – and even more is coming. The region’s demographic change falls under three broad trends: • The aging of the population overall, and in some communities in particular; • The increasing racial and ethnic diversity of the region, particularly among its youngest residents; and • The growing share of the region’s population that is made up of immigrants. These demographic trends will have huge impacts on the region in the decades to come, and together mean that the face of the region in 2030 will look substantially different than it did in 2010. Metro Boston Population By Race/Ethnicity, Age, and Sex, 2010 Note: Ages are grouped in 10 year intervals, except for children aged 0-14 years old. Source: Census 2010. 85 yrs and older 75-84 yrs 85-74 yrs 55-64 yrs 45-54 yrs 35-44 yrs 25-34 yrs 15-24 yrs 0-14 yrs Male All Others Male White Non-Hispanic Female All Others Female White Non-Hispanic 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% -10.00% -20.00% -30.00% 11
  • 26. 12 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 27. The Region is Aging The region is aging, with older residents more likely to be White, and the younger population growing more racially and ethnically diverse. In 2000, roughly 21% of the region’s population was 55 or older. By 2010, this percentage had risen four points to 25%. According to demographic projections made for the MetroFuture plan, between 2000 and 2030, the senior population in the MAPC region is projected to increase by 79%, while the total population will increase by only 9%. Over this time period, the proportion of seniors will increase from 10% to 22%. By 2030, the over-65 group will constitute more than one-quarter of the population in 37 out of the 101 communities in Greater Boston. Unlike previous generations, the aging baby boomers are expected to be healthier, more active, better educated, more likely to remain in the workforce, and more likely to participate in community life. The changing demographics will nonetheless have many implications for how we plan for the future. The region’s challenges will include adjusting its social infrastructure, health care, and other services to support healthy and productive aging, and adjusting its physical infrastructure to better accommodate the specific needs of an older population. It is worth reiterating that this growing group of older adults is primarily White, a contrast to the region’s youngest residents who are more racially and ethnically diverse. 13A Changing Region: The Demographics of Metro Boston
  • 28. 14 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 29. The Region is Growing More Racially and Ethnically Diverse Racial and ethnic minorities account for an increasing share of the region’s population. The most recent Census data available show that Metro Boston has become more diverse overall between 2000 and 2010, with Latinos and Asians13 making up the fastest growing minority groups, while the region’s White residents actually declined as a share of the population. These latest data suggest that suburban areas experienced some of the region’s largest percentage increases in minority group populations, compared to dense urban areas. As the White population ages, youth are increasingly more racially and ethnically diverse. Although over one quarter of the region’s residents are members of racial/ethnic minority groups, just over 40% of the region’s children under age 5 are Black/African American14 , Asian, Latino, Native American, of more than one race, or of another racial/ethnic group. Looking within, rather than between, racial categories, we see that about 25% of the population of the minority groups listed above is under 15, while only 16% of the White population is in this age group – a gap of nearly 10 percentage points. 13 By“Asians,”we mean both immigrants and native-born Americans of Asian descent. 14 There does not seem to be a strong consensus among Blacks/African Americans regarding a preferred racial/ethnic term for self- identification; although, 2007 Gallup data report a higher ranking among this population for the term“Black/African American”over the term“black”for those reporting a preference. We use the term“Black/African American”in the body of the report and are aware that it does not reflect the preference of all or even most individuals identified in this group. These data can be found here: http:// www.gallup.com/search/default.aspx?q=African+American%22+slightly+preferred+among+those+who+have+a+preference&s=& p=1&b=SEARCH. 15A Changing Region: The Demographics of Metro Boston
  • 30. 16 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 31. The Region is Increasingly Foreign-Born In addition to an aging White population and an increasingly diverse young population, the region has also experienced a growing foreign-born population.The region’s foreign-born population increased since 2000 by an estimated 2 to 3 percentage points.The 2009 American Community Survey shows that about 16% of the population of the Boston Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is foreign-born15 . Looking at the countries of origin for the region’s foreign-born population gives us an indication of the incredible demographic change that the region is undergoing. Over a third of the region’s immigrants were born in Latin America nearly one third were born in Asia, followed by one fifth in Europe. Nearly 10% were born in Africa, and smaller percentages were born elsewhere in North America and in Oceania (e.g., Australia, New Zealand, Fiji) Linguistic isolation is of increasing concern as the region’s foreign-born population grows. Nearly one quarter of the region’s population speaks a language other than English at home, which adds to the region’s vibrant diversity and provide an important economic asset in today’s global economy. This also poses challenges, particularly to the households in Metro Boston that are considered linguistically isolated16 . Of most concern, over one quarter of households that speak Spanish are linguistically isolated, as is the same percentage of households that speak an Asian or Pacific Island language. The foreign-born population of the Metro Boston region increased by slightly less than three percentage points between 2000 and 2009, but this increase was not distributed evenly throughout the region.The increase in the foreign- born population was higher than that of the region in 15% of the MAPC municipalities, including Everett and Malden, which experienced at least an 8 percentage point increase; in a few municipalities, however, the population of foreign-born residents even declined. 15 The foreign-born population includes all those born outside the U.S, including those who later became naturalized US citizens. 16 Linguistically isolated households are households in which“no person age 14 years or over speaks only English and no person age 14 years or over who speaks a language other than English speaks English‘Very well.’”Definition from http://www.doleta.gov/reports/ CensusData/Glossary.cfm. 17A Changing Region: The Demographics of Metro Boston
  • 32. Limitations of Racial and Ethnic Categories Reporting data by racial and ethnic categories may mask important differences within racial/ethnic groups, especially when data are condensed into broad categories to ensure reliability, as was done in this report. For example, health data are presented for“Latinos”even though residents of Mexi- can versus Dominican descent may have very different asthma rates.“Asians”are also represented as a single group although those of Japanese versus Cambodian heritage may earn vastly different incomes on average. Finally, the experiences of U.S.-born Black/African Americans versus African or Caribbean black immigrants are also quite distinct. While the Census Bureau collects ancestry and nativity information, many other agen- cies do not, and painting a picture of regional equity in broad strokes requires us to combine data in ways that hide potentially important within-group differences. The purpose of including race/ethnicity variables in this report is not to tease out such nuances, however, but to provide an overview of disparities so that we can do better as a region in the future. It can also suggest a future research agenda that looks more deeply into the nuances within groups. 18 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 33. What Limits Opportunity in the Region? By and large, when we think of equity or inequity, we think of the individual-level factors, such as race/ethnicity, age, or education, that impact our housing, educational resources, jobs opportunities and pay, or health. However, it is not just our own personal characteristics that matter. Inequitable conditions in the region shape our opportunities to enjoy a high quality of life. Inequitable income distribution, highly segregated residential patterns, and continuing discrimination not only harm individuals, but hinder Greater Boston’s potential for equitable growth and prosperity. These larger forces have substantial impacts on communities and individuals throughout each stage of their lives, and are treated here as key drivers of the inequalities that will be discussed later in the report. We highlight segregation and income inequality in a separate chapter because they impact many people, regardless of their life stage. They are also systematic factors that underpin or exacerbate many of the other findings in this report. For example, segregation, particularly when overlaid with poverty, has been shown to have impacts on job access (and, thus, our indicator on labor force participation), school quality (our indicators on school poverty, 3rd grade English Language Arts MCAS scores, and others), and health outcomes (our indicators on open space access, rates of hospitalization due to hypertension, and so on17 ). Many of the same connections, or connections related to other areas of inequity, can be made for income gaps. For this reason, they are presented first, so they can be used as lenses through which to view the rest of the information in the report. 17 Reece and Gambhir,“The Geography of Opportunity: Building Communities of Opportunity in Massachusetts.”(Along with many other reports making these connections - see their survey of other research in the report’s Appendix C.) 19
  • 34. 20 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 35. Segregation “There will be less regional segregation, as all the region’s municipalities increasingly reflect Metro Boston’s growing diversity.”This is MetroFuture goal #15, and achieving it is critical for the region to achieve many of its other goals. The region is far from achieving this goal however, because it still displays highly segregated residential patterns. The region’s Inner Core has the highest density of minority group residents, with the highest concentration of Blacks/African Americans living in Boston; Latinos living in Chelsea, Everett, and other areas north of Boston; and Asians living in Boston’s Chinatown, Quincy and the Newton-Brookline area. Even within some large cities, such as Boston, residents are still highly segregated from neighborhood to neighborhood. Even more striking than the overall distribution of racial/ethnic groups in the region is the distribution of the region’s children under the age of 14. Examining the concentration of youth by race/ethnicity, we see that White and racial/ethnic minority families rarely raise their children side-by-side in Greater Boston. Black/African American, Asian, Latino, Native American, and other minority group youth are highly concentrated in the Inner Core and Regional Urban Centers, especially in specific neighborhoods of Boston, Chelsea, and Lynn. However, the very neighborhoods with the densest concentrations of racial/ethnic minority youth are nearly absent Whites of the same age. As a result, the region’s youth are more highly segregated than its population overall. Given how strongly neighborhoods influence the opportunities people experience in life, residential segregation helps to explain many of the racial/ethnic disparities children suffer in Greater Boston. Monitoring segregation is key to understanding equity in the region both because it has pervasive negative effects and because it is rooted in federal, state, and local policies. As mentioned earlier, segregation concentrates poverty, denies residents opportunities for social and economic mobility, and perpetuates inequity in the region. It is also reflects historic and current housing and economic policy decisions and income differences by race/ethnicity- not simply personal preferences for neighborhoods. 21What Limits Opportunity in the Region?
  • 36. Residential segregation has been linked to a wide variety of social ills, including unemployment, violent crime, infant mortality, poverty, social isolation, and more18 . The public health impacts of segregation are particularly striking. A comprehensive review of the evidence through 2009 found that segregation was linked to asthma, obesity, low birth weight, tuberculosis, teen pregnancy, and cancer outcomes and to premature mortality19 . For example, Black/African American young adults living in segregated neighborhoods experienced two to three times the mortality rate of those in integrated areas. Cancer rates are higher for both Blacks/ African Americans and Whites who live in segregated areas than they are for people who live in more integrated neighborhoods. Additionally, living in a segregated neighborhood can also impact the health care one receives. A study of dialysis patients needing kidney transplants found that living in a predominantly Black/African American neighborhood increased waiting time for a transplant for both Blacks/African Americans and Whites. The study also found that clinics in majority Black/African American neighborhoods were less likely than those in other areas to meet performance targets20 . While most of what we know about segregated neighborhoods derives from examining associations, several powerful studies have actually followed minority group families as they moved from segregated inner city areas to places with a higher proportion of White residents. Data from these studies have led many researchers to conclude that segregation actually causes many of the problems we observe in disenfranchised neighborhoods today. A 2004 review of such studies by Harvard researchers found that moving out of segregated neighborhoods resulted in statistically significant improvements in the areas of anxiety, depression, youth problem behavior, cigarette smoking and access, drug use, and violence exposure. Mixed findings on rates of alcohol consumption, and poorer access to health care and services, in some cases, may be attributed to stress, loss of social support, or service disruption that accompanies such a move21 . 18 Bibliography available at: http://enceladus.isr.umich.edu/race/consequences.html. Compiled by the University of Michigan Popula- tion Studies Center. 19 Kramer and Hogue,“Is Segregation Bad for your Health?”. 20 Rodriguez et al.,“Geography Matters: relationships among urban residential segregation, dialysis facilities, and patient outcomes.” 21 Acevedo-Garcia, Meara, and Cutler,“Does Housing Mobility Policy Improve Health?”. 22 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 37. Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Dissimilarity Index: The Boston region is deeply segregated If the region were completely integrated,White residents would make up an equal share of the population in every neighborhood, matching the region-wide share of about 75%. Similarly, every neighborhood would include about 25% racial/ethnic minorities. However, such an equal distribution of Whites and minority group populations across neighborhoods is far from our current reality. One way to measure segregation is the Dissimilarity Index, which compares two groups, measuring the percentage of the smaller group that would have to move to a different geographic area in order to produce an equal distribution of the smaller group across the area in question. Nearly 62% of all Black/ African American residents of Metro Boston would have to move to a new neighborhood in order to achieve complete integration with Whites, translating to a “dissimilarity index” of roughly .62. Values of .6 and greater are generally considered `high.’ Roughly 60% of all Latino residents of Metro Boston would also have to move to a new neighborhood in order to achieve complete integration with Whites, with the region’s Latino-White dissimilarity index equal to .60 in 2010. The region has made steady progress towards better Black/African American-White integration since 1980, with the dissimilarity index dropping from nearly .75 in 1980. While segregation of the region’s Latino population rose from 1980 - 2000, 2010 shows improved integration from 2000. Because most major metropolitan areas in the United States grapple with persistent segregation, Metro Boston falls roughly in the middle of the pack of similarly sized urban areas in terms of Black/African American- White segregation. In some cities, such as Detroit, MI or Milwaukee,WI, upwards of 80% of Black/African American residents would have to change neighborhoods to achieve complete integration. Keeping in mind that in an integrated region, each neighborhood would be about 75% White, we can also ask how much exposure residents have to people of different races or ethnicities in their neighborhoods. White residents of Metro Boston live in neighborhoods that are, on average, 23What Limits Opportunity in the Region?
  • 38. 24 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 39. 83% White and only 4% Black/African American. Black/African American residents, by contrast, live in neighborhoods that average 43% White and 31% Black/African American. Likewise, Latino residents in Metro Boston lived in neighborhoods that were about 31% Latino, while White residents lived in areas that were roughly 6% Latino. Segregation and isolation, as mentioned above, have the strong effect of concentrating the conditions experienced by each group22 , such that the privileged racial/ethnic groups benefit and disadvantaged racial/ethnic groups suffer. This concentration has a particular impact on aspects of our lives that are organized geographically, from schools (to be discussed later in the document) to real estate markets. A growing body of research is showing the extent to which segregation was a causal factor in the recent foreclosure crisis, and in denial rates for mortgage applications, even among higher-income borrowers. 22 Massey and Fischer,“Does Rising Income Bring Integration?: New Results for Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians in 1990.” 25What Limits Opportunity in the Region?
  • 40. 26 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 41. Income Inequality MetroFuture calls for increasing regional prosperity that benefits all of the region’s residents. However, given that the region suffers from a great divide between the rich and the poor, it is necessary to do more than merely increase the size of the region’s economic pie - the largest increases must go to those who are traditionally least served by the regional economy. Over the last forty years, the region has echoed national trends as wealth has become concentrated in fewer and fewer hands and upward mobility has become less and less of a reality for many people.The thousands of people who helped create MetroFuture did not see this trend as one they wanted to continue. Rather, they envisioned a more equal society, with a smaller gap between the rich and the poor. And they did not want to achieve that parity by reducing standards of living for those at the top, but rather by raising them for those at the bottom. There are numerous goals in the MetroFuture plan that deal with this issue, both directly, as in the case of goal #39,“more workers will participate in the labor force, earning a living wage through secure employment,” and indirectly, by addressing many of the causes of this inequality, like workforce training and improved education.These goals show the MetroFuture vision is of a region where rising prosperity improves the quality of life for all. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Household Income: Gaps between the richest and the poorest, and between White families and members of minority groups, are large and growing. Greater Boston’s households have high incomes compared to state and national averages, although the recent recession has cut household resources slightly. Greater Boston households earn more (our median is about $71,000) than either the state (roughly $65,500) or national (about $52,000) median household income, according to data from 2008. The recent economic downturn has led to a slight decrease in real income since 1999, but this has not been as severe for the region as it has in the rest of the county. 27What Limits Opportunity in the Region?
  • 42. 28 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 43. Over the past 30 years, wealth in the region has become increasingly concentrated, creating a smaller group of wealthy families than ever before, while more Greater Bostonians than ever struggle to make ends meet.The poorest fifth of the region’s population currently earns a median income of roughly $20,000 while the richest fifth earn about $212,000 per year.This means that the richest fifth of the population earns, on average, more than 10 times the income of the poorest fifth.This gap is large compared to other Metro Areas, and it’s increasing. In 1979, for example, the median income of the richest fifth was only about six times that of the poorest fifth. The growing gap between the rich and the poor is not the only reason to be concerned about the region’s income inequality. Disparities also exist in household incomes by race and ethnicity. White and Asian households earn significantly more, on average, than Black/African American and Latino households in the region. As shown in the chart above, from 2006-2008 the median income for White and Asian households in the Greater Boston area was nearly $76,000 and $73,000 per year, respectively. In contrast, Black/African American ($43,000) and Latino ($37,000) household median incomes were significantly lower, meaning, at the most extreme, that there is a more than twofold gap between median White and Latino household incomes. As the White population ages and the Latino population grows and moves into adulthood, such gaps will result in large losses to the regional tax base and to the essential financial support adults provide to dependents and organizations in Greater Boston. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality Gini Coefficient: Incomes in Greater Boston are among the least equal in the country To compare Greater Boston’s income distribution to that of other major metro areas, we use a statistic called the Gini Coefficient.The Gini Coefficient can range from 0 to 1, with higher values signifying higher levels of income inequality. For example, a Gini Coefficient of 1 means that one person earns all of the income in the area being measured, and a Gini Coefficient of 0 means that all residents of the area earn exactly the same income.Thus, when the number is higher, a greater share of income is controlled by a smaller number of people, leaving less of the pie for everyone else. 29What Limits Opportunity in the Region?
  • 44. 30 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 45. Applying this metric to income distribution in our own region, we see that Greater Boston is among the least equal metropolitan areas in the country. From 2006 to 2008, the region had a Gini Coefficient of approximately .47. The United States overall has a Gini Coefficient of .45, meaning income is distributed slightly less equally in Greater Boston than it is in the country as a whole.The high and increasing income inequality that we see locally is part of national, and even global, trends in the concentration of wealth.23 Nationwide, the top 10% of earners currently control over half the wealth in the country, taking the United States back to levels of inequality last seen prior to World War II.24 Unequal income distribution hurts all of us in Greater Boston, with research showing that inequality can make us as a society sicker and increase crime rates, regardless of our poverty rate or average income25 . In short, it is the wide gap in income between rich and poor, not simply poverty, that harms the region. For example, if we compare nations with equal poverty rates, those areas with less equal income distributions have lower life expectancies and higher mortality rates, on average.This is true of developing and developed countries. In terms of crime, researchers studying major U.S. cities have found that a 5% increase in the Gini Coefficient is linked to a 2% increase in the local violent crime rate, a 4% increase in the murder rate, and a 2% increase in car theft.We also know that spending on social programs is lower, educational outcomes are worse, and social cohesion (the quality of social relations in a population) is damaged in unequal areas.26 Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality Tax Structure: Tax policies burden poor families far more than the rich Given that the region suffers from high and increasing income inequality, it is important to look at how public policies impact those at the top and bottom of the income distribution. Looking at tax burdens, we see that Massachusetts’ poorest families pay more than twice as much of their 23 Kawachi,“Income Inequality and Health.” 24 Piketty,“Income Inequality in the United States, 1913-1998.”(Longer updated version published in A.B. Atkinson and T. Piketty eds., Oxford University Press, 2007) (TABLES AND FIGURES UPDATED TO 2008 in Excel format, July 2010). 25 Wilkinson and Pickett, The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger. 26 Kawachi,“Income Inequality and Health.” 31What Limits Opportunity in the Region?
  • 46. income on taxes as the Commonwealth’s richest families do. The poorest families, who earn less than $20,000 per year, spend about 10% of their total income on taxes while the richest 1%, earning an average of $2.6 million per year, pay less than 5% of their income in taxes. Sales and excise taxes cost the poor about 10 times more than the richest 1% in terms of family income. The poor also pay relatively more for property taxes, but less in income tax. In fact, everyone who makes less than $41,000 pays around 10% of their incomes towards taxes, whereas the top 20% of earners pay considerably less. A high tax burden on low income families relative to wealthy families is referred to as a “regressive tax system” and means that those in the most precarious financial positions spend more of their annual earnings on taxes and have less left over for basic necessities, while those in the strongest financial positions keep a greater share of their income. Such a system prevents families from helping themselves out of poverty, as they are unable to invest or save the income they must spend on taxes. Massachusetts’ regressive tax system largely results from a single rate state income tax structure, which taxes income at the same rate regardless of a taxpayer’s income. We see some variability in income taxes paid because of deductions and credits such as the Earned Income Tax Credit27 . However, the EITC alone is not enough to bridge the gap in tax burdens. While usage of the credit is relatively high, not all who qualify take advantage of it. And not all of those in need are eligible to receive the credit, like people who are out of work, or reap its full benefits, like individuals without children. Another driver of the system’s regressive nature is the sales tax. Sales tax always disproportionately impacts the poorest families, as greater shares of their incomes must go to everyday purchases while wealthy families can invest or save much higher proportions of their earnings. Fortunately, groceries and most clothing purchases are exempt from sales tax in Massachusetts, helping to make its tax structure somewhat fairer. 27 According to IRS.gov,“the Earned Income Tax Credit or the EITC is a refundable federal income tax credit for low to moderate income working individuals and families.”From: http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96406,00.html. 32 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 47. Part 1 of this report described MetroFuture’s overall vision for the region’s future, gave a sense of the demographic change the region is undergoing, and explained some of the key factors that impact equity across the lives of the region’s residents. Now, in Part 2, we will look at how access to resources and opportunities vary throughout the stages of our lives, resulting in inequitable outcomes that may build over time. In each of the four stages of life – infants and children, teenagers, adults, and older adults – we organize our information by three key activities that tend to occur primarily during that life stage. We look at each activity through the lens of one or more indicators. These activities and indicators have been selected to demonstrate significant elements of inequity in the region, but they are not intended to tell the whole story of each life stage. Inequity Across Life Stages
  • 48. Inequity Across Life’s Stages Infants and Children: Birth-14 years old Some people say, “We don’t make long-range plans for ourselves – we make them for our children.” MetroFuture calls for a region where children are afforded the opportunity to live their lives to the fullest, through high-quality education, access to spaces and opportunities to play, access to healthcare and the opportunity to begin a healthy lifestyle, and many more goals designed to allow our children to maximize their potential. However, as we have already seen, segregation particularly impacts where we raise our children, with White children and the children of minority groups rarely growing up side-by-side. From birth through childhood, many young people in Greater Boston experience inequity, related to where they live, how much money their families have, and their racial and ethnic backgrounds, three factors that tend to be highly related. This inequity sets some children up with tremendous advantages, and others with substantial obstacles, and it challenges the ability of the region’s residents to realize our collective plans for their future. We believe that growing up healthy, playing, and learning are the cornerstones of childhood. Inequity in each area is explored below. Metro Boston Population By Race/Ethnicity, Age, and Sex, 2010 85 yrs and older 75-84 yrs 65-74 yrs 55-64 yrs 45-54 yrs 35-44 yrs 25-34 yrs 15-24 yrs 0-14 yrs Male All Others Male White Non-Hispanic Female All Others Female White Non-Hispanic 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% -10.00% -20.00% -30.00% Note: Ages are grouped in 10 year intervals, except for children aged 0-14 years old. Source: Census 2010. 34 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 49. Growing up Healthy Children’s health begins before birth, and can be greatly affected by the environment in which they are raised, as well as their parents’ health and wealth, and many other factors. MetroFuture provides the region with many goals relating to children’s’ health, from goals around access to healthy food (goal #24) and open space (goal #23, discussed at greater length in the next section) to a desire to limit exposure to poor air quality and environmental hazards (goal #22).The goals also include access to regular mental and physical health care (goal #26).Together, achieving these goals will help us to raise healthy and strong children. To assess how the region is doing in this regard, we have selected a few key indicators for analysis. Below, we look at two indicators of childhood health: low birth weight and youth asthma rates. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Low Birth Weight: The children of Black/African American women and the least educated are most likely to be born underweight Thousands of babies in Greater Boston, about 7.8% of all babies born, are born too light each year (under 5.5 pounds). Greater Boston is doing better than the nation overall; 8.2% of all American babies born at less than 5.5 pounds28 . But we still have a long way to go to eliminate differences in the rates of low birth weight that we see across different populations. For the sake of this analysis, we have removed twin and triplet births from our calculations because of their predictably lower weights. The largest disparities in low birth weight are found comparing the experiences of college educated White women (fewer than 4% of all births are under 5.5 pounds) to Black/African American women without a high school education (more than 11% of all births are under 5.5. pounds), although a college education is linked to better birth weights for women of all races and ethnicities. Shockingly, although education is a crucial factor in determining birth weight, a Black/African American woman with a college degree is more likely to have an underweight baby than a White woman with a high school education in Greater Boston. 28 Martin et al., Births: Final data for 2007. 35Inequity Across Life Stages — Infants and Children
  • 50. 36 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators ReportState of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 51. Children born at a healthy weight have a head start on the path toward growing up strong and doing well in school, while low birth weight babies are more likely than babies born at a normal (or healthy) weight to suffer educational and developmental delays, and to have serious health problems as adults29 . Comparing adults who were born too light to those who were born heavy (9.5 pounds or greater), researchers have found that the low birth weight group has nearly three times the risk of developing adult Type 2 diabetes and six times the risk of developing adult “metabolic syndrome,” a combination of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and glucose intolerance30 . Low birth weight is also a risk factor for wheezing in young children and may increase the risk of developing asthma31 32 . In a vicious cycle, women who were born at low weights themselves are more likely to have low birth weight babies33 . While individual risk factors,such as having twins or triplets,poor nutrition,older age,smoking,and a lack of prenatal care can increase the risk of low birth weight34 , societal-level factors matter too.The disparities Greater Boston experiences,with Black/African American women and the least educated suffering the worst birth outcomes,mirror national trends.Researchers are beginning to understand how social and environmental conditions can increase the risk of having a low birth weight baby,regardless of a mother’s individual risk factors.For example,recent evidence from a study of Eastern Massachusetts births suggests that exposure to traffic pollutants,specifically air pollution associated with motor vehicle sources, increases risks of low birth weight regardless of a mother’s socioeconomic status35 .Living in a poor neighborhood has also been linked to lower birth weight in this and other studies,regardless of a mother’s individual socioeconomic position36 ,though there is variability in outcomes according to both race/ethnicity and country of origin.While these findings are not completely understood, researchers hypothesize that psychological stress is a possible cause.Where a mother lives during her pregnancy isn’t the only factor,either – evidence linking a mother’s lifetime residence in a poor neighborhood to her children being born underweight37 suggests that childhood living conditions must be addressed in order to prevent low birth weight decades later. 29 Boulet, Schieve, and Boyle,“Birth Weight and Health and Developmental Otucomes in U.S. Children, 1997-2005.” 30 Philips, Jones, and Goulden,“Birth weight, stress, and the metabolic syndrome in adult life.” 31 Gold, Diane R.,“POPULATION DISPARITIES IN ASTHMA.” 32 Chatkin, Moema N,“The association between low birthweight and asthma: a systematic literature review.” 33 Sanderson, Emanuel, and Holt,“The intergenerational relationship between mother’s birthweight, infant birthweight and infant mortality in black and White mothers.” 34 “Low birthweight | Professionals | March of Dimes.” 35 Zeka, Melly, and Schwartz,“The effects of socioeconomic status and indices of physical environment on reduced birth weight and preterm births in Eastern Massachusetts.” 36 Janevic et al.,“Neighborhood deprivation and adverse birth outcomes among diverse ethnic groups.” 37 Collins et al.,“Women’s lifelong exposure to neighborhood poverty and low birth weight: a population-based study.” 37Inequity Across Life Stages — Infants and Children
  • 52. 38 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report These maps show that both environmental hazards and youth asthma hospitalizations are concentrated in Metro Boston’s Inner Core.
  • 53. Disparities in birth weight cost the region tremendously. From 2003 to 2008 alone,more than 11,000 babies (excluding twins and triplets) were born too light in Greater Boston. If all women in the region experienced the same risk of low birth weight that college educated White women do,roughly 3,500 (31%) of these babies would have been born at a healthy weight. Low birth weight babies frequently require extra medical care throughout their lives and have more trouble in school. Further,geographic concentrations of low birth weight, caused by both residential segregation and shared environmental risk factors such as polluted air, burden already-strained neighborhoods with additional medical and educational support needs and family stress. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Youth Asthma Hospitalization Rate: Youth in minority groups are far more likely to be hospitalized for asthma than White youth Asthma hospitalization rates are worse in Greater Boston than in the rest of the state, with Black/African American and Latino children burdened with the highest rates.Within the region, Black/African American youth are hospitalized for asthma at over five times the rate of White youth. This disparity results, at least in part, from the combined impacts of residential segregation during youth and unequal exposure to pollution like environmental hazard sites (including incinerators, hazardous waste dumps, and landfills).These polluting sites threaten our health, have been linked to developmental delays, and perpetuate neighborhood disadvantage by lowering property values and slowing the redevelopment of urban land38 39 40 . We see huge disparities in asthma hospitalization not just because of differences in neighborhood environmental and air quality, but due to disparities in housing quality, access to consistent medical care, and patient and parent education about the importance of taking medication as prescribed. Poorly controlled asthma taxes the health care delivery system, schools, and the employers of parents who must care for sick children, according to researchers. Nationwide, these direct health care expenses and lost work time cost the economy $16 billion annually41 . Eliminating disparities in asthma rates generally,and particularly hospitalization rates for asthma, is one way the region could save health care costs,improve our workforce preparedness, and increase job security for parents. 38 Kiel,“Measuring the Impact of the Discovery and Cleaning of Identified Hazardous Waste Sites on House Values.” 39 “Brownfields | US EPA.” 40 Faber, Daniel R,“Unequal exposure to ecological hazards: environmental injustices in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.” 41 Stillman and Council,“Burden of Asthma.” 39Inequity Across Life Stages — Infants and Children
  • 54. 40 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 55. Playing The region’s children also need outdoor places to play and run.The MetroFuture goals address this need by calling for an increased network of parks, community gardens, and other places for recreation (goal #23). Such improvements will not only help children, but will also enable us to achieve another crucial MetroFuture goal: that all of the region’s residents build more physical activity into their lives (goal #25). We now look at the quantity and accessibility of open space around the region to see where we are doing well and where we must make progress. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Open Space per Resident: Urban children have worse access to parks than suburban children Based on our local land use analysis, children in Inner Core communities and Regional Urban Centers have less open space in their neighborhoods (per capita) than children in suburban communities42 . For the purposes of this analysis,‘open space’includes all conservation land and outdoor recreational facilities, as classified by MassGIS. Examples of land uses included in this open space definition are walking trails, parks, town commons, school and other playing fields, golf courses, bike paths, some agricultural land, and more. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Distance to the Nearest Park: Many Inner Core communities offer residents open space within walking or biking distance Good access is not just about ample parkland. Many suburban communities offer a tough tradeoff for residents: although there is a great deal of open space, much of it far away from where people live.To understand this issue, we examined how far residents live, on average, from the closest walking trail, play field, or other open space resource. From Littleton to Foxboro along I-495 and across many of our other Developing Suburbs, residents must drive to reach open space despite the fact that these places are rich in acres of conservation and recreation land. On the other hand, much of the Inner Core, many Regional Urban Centers, and the Maturing Suburbs 42 MetroFuture identified four basic community types within the Greater Boston region: Inner Core, Regional Urban Centers, Maturing Suburbs, and Developing Suburbs. For more on each type’s characteristics and a map of the community types in the region, visit http://metrofuture.org/content/metrofutures-community-types. 41Inequity Across Life Stages — Infants and Children
  • 56. 42 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 57. of Lincoln,Wayland,Weston, and Wellesley offer residents open space resources within walking or biking distance.This is particularly important when thinking about the needs of children, who cannot drive. Nearby open spaces take a burden off parents, and allow older children to travel independently to sports fields, biking paths, or hiking trails. Physical access to open space is not the only factor to consider when looking at a child’s ability to play. Other important factors include safety, both of the equipment in a playground, for example, and of the neighborhood in which it is situated.When local researchers set out to investigate how safe opportunities for play varied across the city of Boston, they found shocking results. Counter to what we might expect, while neighborhoods with the highest concentrations of youth did have the largest number of playgrounds, they offered the least safe playground equipment. Areas with higher concentrations of Black/African American residents, higher rates of youth poverty, and higher percentages of residents without high school degrees were also much more likely to have playgrounds with unsafe equipment than were areas with richer,Whiter, more highly educated populations43 . Low quality or inadequate access to open space impacts the region negatively in terms of health care costs related to a lack of physical activity, increased driving to get to recreation areas, and disparities in property values, which are higher near recreational areas or open space vistas44 . Disparities in open space resources can also limit recreational options for residents. Areas with excellent open space acreage nearby are more likely to also offer diversity in terms of the type and size of open spaces, giving residents options of quiet parks, playgrounds, sports fields, community gardens, and more. 43 Craddock, Angie,“Playground Safety and Access in Boston Neighborhoods.” 44 Sherer,“Why America Needs More City Parks and Open Space.” 43Inequity Across Life Stages — Infants and Children
  • 58. 44 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 59. Learning Healthy physical growth is only one piece of children’s overall development. Success in school is also key to well being and prosperity later in life. It is also crucial to produce new generations of well-educated workers. From early childhood education (goal #27) to college or other career training (goal #29), the MetroFuture vision for the region’s future is of a region where our children move through a high-functioning and supportive educational system. However, looking at educational measures, we see that poor, racial/ethnic minority group, immigrant, and urban youth face educational disadvantages from an early age. To track those disadvantages, and even begin to explain them, we look at who is attending high-poverty schools and at the region’s scores on the 3rd grade English Language Arts MCAS. Demographics Economy Education Environment & Recreation Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References Demographics Economy Education Environment Housing Public Health Public Safety Transportation Civic Vitality References FINAL Attendance of High-Poverty Schools: Black/African American and Latino children are disproportionately concentrated in the poorest schools Public funding provides our schools much, but not all, of what they need to educate our children. In addition to their official budgets, public schools often benefit from volunteerism, supplementary fund raising efforts, parental involvement in the classroom, and other financial and social resources leveraged from the surrounding community. School resources therefore vary not only by publicly funded per pupil expenditures, but also by the economic composition of the families whose children are enrolled in the school.The percentage of students eligible for free or reduced price lunch is one indicator of a student body’s economic composition.When more than half of its students are entitled to subsidized lunch, we call a school “high poverty.” Racial/ethnic minority group students are disproportionately concentrated in high poverty schools in the region.While only 8% of primary school students in the commonwealth are Black/African American, 20% of students in poor and high poverty schools are Black/African American. While only 16% of primary students are Latino, 42% of students in poor and 45Inequity Across Life Stages — Infants and Children
  • 60. 46 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report
  • 61. high poverty schools are Latino. Asians make up 5% of the primary school student population overall and 6% of the student population in poor and high poverty schools.These disparities mean that nearly three quarters of Black/African American and Latino students attend a high poverty school while just over 10% of Whites do. Over one third of Asian students attend poor and high poverty schools. Attending high poverty schools has been linked to students’ lower academic achievement, regardless of each family’s level of resources.That is, both poor and well-off students do worse in high poverty schools than they do in low poverty schools45 . If parental income were the key variable determining student performance, wealthy children would do equally well in schools shared with poor classmates as they would in schools shared with middle and high income classmates.This is not what we see, however. Concentrated poverty in a school harms all the children attending that school, in part because high poverty schools tend to have fewer highly qualified teachers, worse student performance on national tests, higher dropout rates, and lower rates of students enrolling in college than do schools in which a smaller percentage of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches46 . Students who come from impoverished families and attend high poverty schools have been shown to be at the worst disadvantage. Residential segregation is one of the root causes of the disproportionate concentration of members of racial/ethnic minority groups in high poverty schools.Those municipalities with the highest concentrations of racial/ ethnic minority youth are also home to some of the region’s poorest schools, while the suburban areas predominantly populated with White children enjoy very low school poverty rates.The most extreme disparities exist among schools located in Chelsea and Lynn, where over 75% of public primary school students are entitled to free or subsidized lunch, and those in Carlisle and Dover, where less than 1% of the primary school students qualify for free or subsidized meals. While the issue of community and family resources in a school is important, the question of the school’s access to resources is also of concern. 45 Anderson,“Re-Examining the Relationship between School Poverty and Student Achievement.” 46 McArdle, Osypuk, and Acevedo-Garcia,“Segregation and Exposure to High-Poverty Schools in Large Metropolitan Areas: 2008-09.” 47Inequity Across Life Stages — Infants and Children
  • 62. 48 State of Equity in Metro Boston Indicators Report