密歇根新闻广播 哈佛研究表明城市流动性越差,摆脱贫困的机率越小

 

How do we break the cycle of poverty? What can we, as a state and a nation, do to help poor children escape poverty and move up and out?

Jamie Fogel is a pre-doctoral fellow with Harvard's department of economics and a researcher on the Quality of Opportunity project that takes a close look at the effect of poverty and geography.

Fogel and his research team ask first and foremost: To what extent is the U.S. a "land of opportunity?"

They wanted to chart levels of mobility¹ in the country and see how it varies across the nation.

"If parents earned X, what do we expect their kids to earn? And in general, we focused on parents who were at about the 25th percentile of income distribution … and we looked at the outcomes for their children," Fogel says.

Ottawa County is the most upwardly mobile place in Michigan, according to the project.

Fogel says Ottawa ranks above average in racial segregation², does very well in terms of income equality, and has relatively³ good test scores.

The same can't be said for Washtenaw and Wayne counties. Kids who grew up in Ottawa saw income gain by $4,000; Wayne County kids earned $2,600 less than their parents.

Fogel's team also found that the longer you spend in a place, "the more you look like that place."

"If you moved to a high-mobility area when you're younger, you're going to be more likely to experience that mobility, whereas if you move to that high-mobility place at a later age, you'll still get some of the effects of the mobility, but to a lesser⁴ extent."

"Places matter," Fogel says. He hopes his project can show policymakers that there is something we can do and that poverty is not intrinsic to individuals and their families.

1 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

2 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

3 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

4 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。