A new study led by Stanford economist Raj Chetty and Harvard’s Nathaniel Hendren finds that boys in the bottom quintile of the income distribution are more likely to spiral into joblessness and crime than girls. While men are associated with higher pay and are more likely to work, boys who grow up in high poverty, high minority, and crime stricken areas end up working significantly less than girls.
The finding is based on an examination of tax records for roughly ten million Americans born between nineteen eighty and nineteen eighty two. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, men raised in low-income families fare worse than women along other dimensions as well, including college attendance. The researchers focused on one hundred populous counties and commuting zones.
Gender differences in employment rates for children with low income parents were particularly large in communities like Richmond, Virginia and Memphis, Tennessee. Professor Chetty’s previous research has supported proposals to help families move away from tough neighborhoods and underperforming schools in order to increase the likelihood of entering the middle class.
