Adolescent Experiences and Adult Neighborhood Attainment

Kris Marsh, University of Maryland
Kivan Polimis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Past research on racial differences in residential attainment has largely centered on the debate between the assimilation and stratification perspectives. The research from these perspectives assumes that residential attainment is primarily a function of current socioeconomic conditions and racial attitudes. Yet, growing bodies of research from the life-course perspective and on the effects of neighborhood context on adolescent development suggest that early-life experiences may shape residential opportunities and outcomes during adulthood. The purpose of this paper is to assess the link between adolescent residential histories and neighborhood location in early adulthood. The study will use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to examine the extent to which the types of neighborhoods in which an individual lived during their childhood and adolescence shape the composition of the neighborhood in which they reside as an adult, and the role these residential experiences on racial differences in residential attainment.