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Title: Bridging the Racial Generation Gap Is Key to America’s Economic Future

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2017

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Abstract: This brief shares new research demonstrating the consequences of America’s racial generation gap. Using demographic and school spending data from the U.S. Census Bureau, we examine trends in the racial generation gap and its relationship to education spending in states and counties since 1990. Our findings include: While the national racial generation gap seems to have peaked and will now slowly decline, the gap is much higher and quickly growing in many states and counties. Arizona has the highest racial generation gap of any state, at 41 percentage points, and 90 counties face even higher gaps. In 154 counties, the racial generation gap has grown at least 20 percentage points since 1990. States and counties with larger racial generation gaps tend to spend less on K-12 education on a per-capita basis. Estimates suggest that every percentage-point increase in the racial generation gap is associated with a decrease in state and local per-child education spending of around 1.5 percent. Given the significant growth in the racial generation gap over time in many states and counties, this reduction in spending adds up. For example, a state with a large increase in the gap over the last 20 years, such as Nevada, would have seen about $2,600 more in spending per child (in inflationadjusted 2012 dollars) had the gap had no effect.

Url: http://nationalequityatlas.org/sites/default/files/RacialGenGap_ final.pdf

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Authors: Pastor, Manuel; Scoggins, Justin; Treuhaft, Sarah

Publisher: PolicyLink

Data Collections: IPUMS CPS

Topics: Education, Race and Ethnicity

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