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‘Friending Bias’ – The New York Times


In recent years, social scientists have made it a priority to understand upward mobility. They used tax records and other data to study what factors increase the likelihood that children who grow up in poverty will escape poverty as adults.

Research shows that education, which spans from pre-K to university, seems to play a big role. Money itself is important: Longer, deeper episodes of poverty can affect children for decades. Other factors – such as avoiding eviction, having access to good medical care and growing up in a two-parent household – can also contribute to greater mobility.

Now, there’s another intriguing element to add to the list, thanks a study published this morning in the academic journal Nature: friendship with the non-poor.

Raj Chetty, an economist at Harvard and one of the study’s four lead authors, told The Times: “Growing up in a classroom that’s connected to classrooms improves children’s outcomes. and help them have a better chance to rise out of poverty.

The study attempts to quantify the effect in a number of ways. One of the most obvious things, I think, when comparing two similar children in lower-income households – one grew up in a community where social connections came primarily from the other half. bottom of the socioeconomic distribution, and the other grew up in a community where social contacts came mainly from the upper half.

The authors report that the average difference between the two, in terms of expected outcomes in adults, is significant. It’s like the gap between a child growing up in a family earning $27,000 a year and a child growing up in a family earning $47,000.

The study was based on a dizzying amount of data, including the Facebook friendships of 72 million people. (You can explore the findings through the Charts and maps from The Upshot.)

Robert Putnam – a political scientist who has long studied social interactions, including his book “Bowling Alone” – says the study is important in part because it suggests ways to increase mobility or more. “It provides some avenues or clues where we can start to move this country in a better direction,” he said.

In recent decades, the US has gone in the opposite direction. Rising economic inequality and shortages of new housing in many communities have increased economic disparity. Even within communities, social interactions between classes seem to have decreased.

This chart shows the extent to which Americans differentiate themselves by class:

Chetty told me there seem to be three main mechanisms by which inter-class friendships can increase one’s chances of escaping poverty.

The first is ambition to grow: Social familiarity can give people a clearer sense of what is possible. The second is basic information, such as how to apply to college and financial aid. The third is networking, such as getting a referral for an internship.

My colleague Claire Cain Miller, after speaking with the study’s authors in recent weeks, set out to look for some real-world examples of its findings. Claire focuses on Angelo Rodriguez High School in Fairfield, California, a midsize city between Sacramento and Oakland. The school has an unusually high number of interactions between classes. One of the people Claire interviewed was Mari Bowie, a 24-year-old who grew up in a middle-class family facing divorce, layoffs and loss of home – and who has befriended richer girls in high school.

“My mom really instilled in us hard work — knowing our family history, you have to be better, you have to do better,” Bowie said. “But I don’t know anything about the SAT, and my friends’ parents signed up for the class, so I thought I should. I have let my friends’ parents review my personal statements. “

Today, Bowie is a criminal defense attorney. She found her job through a friend of one of her high school friends.

Angelo Rodriguez High School is a case in point because it is more economically and racially diverse than most schools. Such diversity is necessary for a high degree of socioeconomic integration. The study’s authors say it’s still not enough. In some diverse communities, Americans with lower and higher incomes lead relatively segregated lives.

In others, interactions between classes are more common. The study did not have a full explanation for the difference. But Claire discovered that the high school had taken deliberate steps to connect people.

The school doesn’t just draw its students from one community. Instead, it has an unusually shaped school district that includes both poorer and richer neighborhoods, and also accepts some students from outside the boundaries of that school district. The school’s open architecture also encourages casual interaction. John Diffenderfer, one of the school’s architects, said: “Random, unstructured interaction among students is a very high priority.

What can increase interaction between classes elsewhere?

Among the promising possibilities, the researchers say: more housing, including subsidized housing, in well-off areas; more diverse K-12 schools and colleges; and specific efforts – such as public parks that attract a diversity of families – to encourage interaction between the richer and the poorer.

Churches and other religious organizations may have some lessons to teach other sections of society. Although many churches are socioeconomically homogeneous, those with some diversity tend to foster class interactions more than most other social activities. Churches have lower levels of what the researchers call socioeconomic “friendship bias.”

In contrast, youth sports have become more segregated, as wealthy families flock to so-called tour team.

A successful effort to increase interaction would probably also need to address race-specific roles. Research shows that places with more racial diversity tend to have less social friendships between classes.

“Our society is structured in ways that discourage these kinds of class friendships from happening, and many parents, often white, are making choices about where to live and what ways to live. Extracurricular methods to involve their children make those connections less likely,” said Jessica Calarco, a sociologist at Indiana University. Claire’s Story go into more detail about the role of race.

Stagnant living standards for the working class and poor Americans is a huge problem that no change will solve it. But the explosion of academic research on upward mobility, including this new one, has at least given a clearer sense of what could help. Social integration seems to play an important role.

There are many ways to work through grief: taking time to grieve, exercising, spending time with friends, to name a few. But some are finding solace in something different: invest in real estate.

Jennifer Miller wrote in The Times: “And they found an independent support system, especially after a breakup or divorce, that discovered emotional empowerment: “And they did. find a unique support system where the spooky relationship is just as important as learning how to negotiate interest rates.”

Thank you for spending part of the morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. – David

PS: Should you check your luggage at the airport? Is a rental car worth the cost? What about insurance? During this torturous summer of travel, Times experts will answer your questions. Submit them here.



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