Does segregation makes us less happy?
We study the effect of segregation on wellbeing. Segregation is measured with dissimilarity and exposure/isolation indices.
The index of dissimilarity is a demographic measure of the evenness with which two groups are distributed across the component geographic areas that make up a larger area. The index score can also be interpreted as the percentage of one of the two groups included in the calculation that would have to move to different geographic areas in order to produce a distribution that matches that of the larger area. Exposure index essetially measures probability that a person of one race meets a person of another race.
Wellbeing is measured with survey questions about life satisfaction and mental health. Segregation data come from American Community Survey (U.S. Census). Wellbeing data come from Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). The unit of analysis is county and metropolitan area. Segregation may improve well-being: people prefer to live among like-minded individuals, and homogeneity of residents may result in improved social support. On the other hand, segregation may decrease well-being due to its negative effect on the overall (metropolitan-level) social cohesion and increased feelings of exclusion and isolation. Furthermore, segregation may improve wellbeing of the rich enclaves and depress wellbeing of poor enclaves. Preliminary results indicate that segregation results in low wellbeing. However, controlling for crime and social support attenuates or even reverses the effect.
R58 - Regional Development Planning and Policy
I31 - General Welfare
I18 - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health