Diversity Data Kids, in partnership with Brandeis University, released the Child Opportunity Index 2.0, which measures neighborhood opportunity for children in 72,000 census tracts across the U.S. in both metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. The interactive website allows users to explore the neighborhood opportunity rankings for their states and metro areas. There is significant variation in access to neighborhood opportunity across the country and significant racial disparities in neighborhood opportunity for children. White children are far more likely to reside in high- or very high-opportunity neighborhoods than Black and Hispanic children.
Twenty-nine indicators are utilized in the Child Opportunity Index 2.0, grouped into three broad categories: education, health and environment, and social and economic indicators. Neighborhoods are defined at the census-tract level and scored according to their performance within these categories. The scores can be calculated and compared across neighborhoods nationally, between metropolitan areas, and within metropolitan areas.
The index shows children’s access to opportunity varies substantially across each level of geographic comparison, but just 9% of variation in neighborhood opportunity occurs between metropolitan areas while 91% of variation occurs within metropolitan areas. Metropolitan areas with some of the highest-opportunity neighborhoods in the country can also contain some of the lowest-opportunity neighborhoods for children, especially for children of color. Across the 100 largest metropolitan areas, 46% of Black children and 32% of Hispanic children live in neighborhoods with very low opportunity rankings.
The report is at: https://bit.ly/2UTfpWX
An interactive map is at: https://bit.ly/2SJ7KYz