The fastest-growing cities in the U.S. may be adding lots of jobs for well-off people, but many have low rates of upward mobility for lower-income kids growing up there. And it's especially bleak for black males, according to Raj Chetty, Harvard economics professor and director of Opportunity Insights, a research and policy organization. Why it matters: The extent of racial disparities and economic mobility "is so extreme in the U.S. that it's almost like they're two Americas," Chetty said about the maps above. What they did: The researchers analyzed outcomes of about 4 million families that moved across neighborhoods and tracked the outcomes of children of low-income parents over 30 years. What they found: Childhood environments are stronger indicators of upward mobility than where individuals go to college or move as young adults. Downward mobility is also critical. White men from affluent families are likely to stay affluent as adults. But black men from affluent backgrounds are nearly just as likely to end up in the bottom tier of the income distribution than the top tier. And the disparities are likely to worsen over the next decade. The bottom line: A strong national economy only goes so far. The most important factor in determining upward mobility is the conditions in the half-mile radius around where you live, Chetty said. Go deeper:
Research into racial disparities and economic mobility has almost suggested the existence of two Americas, according to Opportunity Insights director Raj Chetty. Lower-income children, particularly black men in the fastest-growing US cities, have low upward mobility rates, according to Chetty’s research. The Harvard economics professor also said the problem would become worse during the next decade. A McKinsey report has already said automation would take hundreds of thousands of jobs from African American workers by 2030. The research, said Chetty, showed childhood environments are better indicators of social mobility than college or the environments of young adulthood.