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In 2011 MAPC released The State of Equity in Metro Boston, an inventory of cross- sectoral indicators that measured inequity in the region through the various stages of life, from birth to old age. That report sparked a robust public conversation about this critical topic and informed collaborative regional efforts to address the disparities that were documented. Now—in 2017—this report updates those measures, where possible, and provides new indicators to give a more current picture of disparities and opportunity. The update shows that in recent years the region has made some progress in closing critical gaps, especially those facing the region’s youngest residents, though large disparities remain. Children of color are born healthier and are seeing better educational outcomes than they did just five years ago. Gaps in test scores, exclusionary discipline, graduation rates, college attendance, and incarceration rates are decreasing. Yet, for many indicators, little progress has been made in closing gaps: people of color (both children and adults, particularly Black and Latino) are disproportionately affected by asthma, diabetes, hypertension, and other health burdens; labor force participation rates are falling for workers without a college degree; and unemployment rates are substantially higher for workers with disabilities, and for those who are Black and Latino. Some of these key findings are summarized in this document, with full details, data, and citations available in the online report at www.regionalindicators.org. It is also abundantly clear that the conditions which contribute to inequity are persisting or becoming more severe: discrimination, whether overt or systemic, continues to limit opportunity for some residents; income and wealth disparity is increasing, dimming the prospects for upward mobility; and residential segregation, especially segregation by income, is becoming more severe, contributing to intergenerational poverty. To make progress, the region must act with even more urgency to address the observed health, educational, economic, and quality of life disparities documented here. If we hope to achieve these changes, the region must also tackle income inequality and segregation through economic, housing, and land use policies. www.regionalindicators.org METRO BOSTON REGIONAL INDICATORS STATE OF EQUITY 2017 UPDATE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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In 2011 MAPC released The State of Equity in Metro Boston, an inventory of cross-sectoral indicators that measured inequity in the region through the various stages of life, from birth to old age. That report sparked a robust public conversation about this critical topic and informed collaborative regional efforts to address the disparities that were documented. Now—in 2017—this report updates those measures, where possible, and provides new indicators to give a more current picture of disparities and opportunity.

The update shows that in recent years the region has made some progress in closing critical gaps, especially those facing the region’s youngest residents, though large disparities remain. Children of color are born healthier and are seeing better educational outcomes than they did just five years ago. Gaps in test scores, exclusionary discipline, graduation rates, college attendance, and incarceration rates are decreasing. Yet, for many indicators, little progress has been made in closing gaps: people of color (both children and adults, particularly Black and Latino) are disproportionately affected by asthma, diabetes, hypertension, and other health burdens; labor force participation rates are falling for workers without a college degree; and unemployment rates are substantially higher for workers with disabilities, and for those who are Black and Latino. Some of these key findings are summarized in this document, with full details, data, and citations available in the online report at www.regionalindicators.org.

It is also abundantly clear that the conditions which contribute to inequity are persisting or becoming more severe: discrimination, whether overt or systemic, continues to limit opportunity for some residents; income and wealth disparity is increasing, dimming the prospects for upward mobility; and residential segregation, especially segregation by income, is becoming more severe, contributing to intergenerational poverty. To make progress, the region must act with even more urgency to address the observed health, educational, economic, and quality of life disparities documented here. If we hope to achieve these changes, the region must also tackle income inequality and segregation through economic, housing, and land use policies.

www.regionalindicators.org

METRO BOSTON REGIONAL INDICATORS

STATE OF EQUITY 2017 UPDATEEXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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Acknowlegements

Authors | Genea Foster, Kate Ito, Jessie Partridge, Tim Reardon

Contributors | Andres Achury, Susan Brunton, Matt Gardner, Cortni Kerr, Sarah Philbrick, Andrea Wang

Director of Data Services | Tim Reardon

Director of Strategic Initiatives | Eric Hove

Director of Public Health | Barry Keppard

Executive Director of MAPC | Marc Draisen

Funded by the Barr Foundation

Advisory Group | Mariana Arcaya, MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning; David Harris, Harvard Law School Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Racial Justice; Lisa Jacobson, Barr Foundation; Kim Janey, Massachusetts Advocates for Children; Richard Juang, Alternatives for Community and Environment; Penn Loh, Tufts University Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning; Chris Mancini, Groundwork Somerville; Marvin Martin, Action for Regional Equity; Nancy McArdle, diversitydata.org at Brandeis Institute for Child, Youth and Family Policy; Elizabeth Pimentel, City of Boston; Rebecca Shuster, Boston Public Schools; Stacy Thompson, Livable Streets Alliance; Courtland Townes III, Boston Center for Independent Living; W. W. Sanouri Ursprung, Massachusetts Department of Public Health; Anise Vance and Luc Schuster, The Boston Indicators Project at the Boston Foundation

February 2017

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MAPC’s regional plan MetroFuture: Making a Greater Boston Region envisions a sustainable, prosperous, and equitable future for the region. In this vision, equity means that every person has a shot at growing up healthy, receiving a quality education, finding employment that ensures a good quality of life, and enjoying a comfortable retirement. An equitable region is free from discrimination that marginalizes residents based on race, gender identity, religion, disability, nationality, immigration status, sexual orientation, and age, preventing fair access to resources and opportunities.

Achieving equity means eliminating disparities that harm certain groups and not others, in ways that are unfair, preventable, systematic, and grounded in social, political, and historical factors. It also requires acknowledging and addressing the structural dimensions of racism, discrimination, and prejudice in public policy that limit opportunities for residents and their families.

The results of inequity are profound, and their impacts are not confined to those individuals and communities that experience them. Inequity affects individuals at each stage of life, from birth to death. Individuals affected by inequity experience health problems, have lower educational attainment rates, are less likely to participate in the labor force, are subject to increased risk of violence, and may have a lower quality of life after retirement. Inequity affects all the region’s communities: health disparities can contribute to rising health care costs; economic growth is hampered by skilled labor shortages; and municipalities struggle with the cost of providing social services to areas of concentrated poverty. There is abundant evidence that equitable regions are more economically competitive, fiscally sound, and socially connected than those with high levels of inequality.

This indicators report seeks to quantify the many dimensions and forms of inequity so that the region can track its progress toward a more equitable future. These findings will also inform an update to MAPC’s Equity Policy Agenda, produced after the 2011 report. Action on this policy agenda is needed now more than ever. As Metro Boston becomes increasingly diverse, it essential for us to address the inequities negatively affecting a growing share of the population, and to do so immediately and in a determined manner. As the federal government appears poised to roll back many of the pro-equity policies advanced by the Obama Administration and its predecessors —both Republican and Democrat—MAPC and its partners must work even harder to ensure an equitable and prosperous future for all of the people who live or work in Metro Boston.

An equitable region is one in which all residents have opportunities to reach their full potential

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Metro Boston is becoming more diverse. In 1980, the region’s population was 8% people of color; by 2010, that figure had grown to 25%. MAPC projects that by 2040 the region will be at least 40% people of color. Latinos are the largest and fastest-growing non-White demographic group in the re gion, now composing 9% of the total population. Immigrants are an important driver of the region’s population growth; without international immigrants, Metro Boston would have lost population—and workers—between 2000 and 2010. The origins of immigrants are also changing in the past few years, with more people moving here from Asia and Africa, and fewer from Europe.

Even as it grows more diverse, the region remains racially and economically segregated. The Dissimilarity Index, which measures the extent to which two groups are similarly distributed across the region, has shown decreasing Black-White segregation since 1980. However, the Dissimilarity Index for Latinos and Whites is now higher than it was in 1990, indicating a greater degree of segregation between the two groups, despite rapid growth in the Latino population. Black and Latino residents make up 7% and 9% of the region’s population, respectively, but the average White resident lives in a neighborhood where only 4%

of her or his neighbors are Black and only 6% of the neighbors are Latino. The average Black resident lives in a neighborhood where 43% of her or his neighbors are White.

Racial segregation cannot be attributed only to differences in income. Regardless of their income, people of color live in less-affluent neighborhoods than white households with comparable earnings. Imagine two households—one White, one Black, both earning $78,000 per year. The odds are that the White household lives in a neighborhood where the median household income of its neighbors is $72,000. Meanwhile, the Black household is likely to live in a neighborhood where the median income is just $51,000. This disparity has increased substantially since 2000. Similar

disparities are observed for Latinos and Asians, though the disparities are smaller for those demographic groups and decline at higher income levels. These findings indicate that even middle class children of color are likely to live in high-poverty neighborhoods that may have negative and long-lasting impacts on health, education, and income.

Meanwhile, other measures of economic segregation demonstrate that the region’s poorest households are becoming increasingly concentrated into low-income neighborhoods with little income diversity. This suggests that more work needs to be done to revitalize low income communities while opening up opportunity in more affluent areas.

Neighborhood Median Income by Household Income and Race/Ethnicity2010-14, Boston-Quincy Metropolitan Division

FIGURE 1. Data source: Stanford Center for Education Policy Analysis

Metro Boston is becoming more diverse, but more economically segregated

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One of the most startling findings of the 2011 State of Equity report pertained to low birth weight, which can affect a child’s outcomes in life even before she is born. Low birth weight (less than 5.5 pounds) increases risks of infant health problems and infant mortality, and has been associated with educational and developmental delays and adult health problems. Research has shown that social and environmental conditions increase the risk of having a low birth weight baby, regardless of a mother’s individual risk factors. In 2011, we found that racial disparities in low birth weight eclipsed the differences attributable to education level. In fact, based on 2005 – 2009 data, a college-educated Black woman was more likely to have a low

birth weight baby than a White woman without a high school diploma.

More recent data shows that disparities in low birth weight are declining. The most recent data (2010 – 2014) indicate that the rate of low-weight births declined for Black mothers at all education levels. During the same period, the rate of low birth weight for White mothers without a college degree increased. So while the disparities between Blacks and Whites at all education levels are now substantially smaller than they were ten years ago, the reasons behind the lower disparity are not entirely positive.

Not all the news is good for youth health outcomes, either. In particular, youth asthma hospitalizations increased by

more than 10% over a 5-year period. Increases were seen for all race and ethnic groups, and the disparity increased between White youths and youths of color. Asthma hospitalization rates for Black youth are now 2.7 times higher than the regional average, and climbing. While the rates for Latino youth are still closer to the regional average, they increased 22% in 5 years. Since asthma hospitalizations affect children’s time in school and a host of other outcomes, it is imperative to address the environmental conditions that cause asthma and trigger attacks, and to help parents take steps to manage their child’s asthma to avoid hospitalization.

Children’s health is improving, but disparities continue to limit long-term outcomes for many

Low Birth Weight by Mother’s Race/Ethnicity and Education2005-09 and 2010-14, MAPC Region

FIGURE 2. Data source: Massachusetts Department of Public Health

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The 2011 State of Equity report documented well-known but troubling disparities in educational achievement by race, ethnicity, language, disability and income. Standardized test performance improved across almost all demographic categories between 2009 and 2015, and the gains were largest for Black and Latino students. For the 10th Grade Math MCAS, the percent of Black and Latino students scoring Advanced or Proficient grew by 9 percentage points and 7 percentage points, respectively, and the gap in scores between these groups and White students dropped by 5 points and 3 points. These groups also saw even larger increases in their four-year graduation rates, and the gap in graduation rate with Whites fell by one

quarter. Smaller gains in test scores and graduation rates were also observed for students with disabilities, low-income students, and English language learners. While standardized tests and graduation rates are certainly not the only, or perhaps even the best indicators of educational quality and attainment, these trends are positive nonetheless.

Part of the reason for these improvements may be associated with changes in how students are disciplined in school. Overly strict disciplinary policies, which disproportionately affect students of color, low-income students, and special education students, may be counterproductive by reducing classroom time and actually contributing to increased vulnerability to imprisonment.

New school discipline policies, prompted in part by a 2012 law promoting alternatives to exclusionary discipline, have substantially reduced the rates of suspensions. Out of school suspensions are becoming less common, and less disparately applied. Suspension rates in schools with more than 50% students of color are half of what they were in 2006 – 2007, though they still remain twice as high as the average for all schools in the region. Continuing to find alternative ways to discipline students while keeping them engaged in school is critical if the region is going to close achievement and graduation gaps.

Students of all backgrounds are benefitting from educational improvements, but gaps remain

10th Grade Math MCAS Scores of Advanced or Proficient2008-09 and 2013-14, MAPC Region

FIGURE 3. Data source: Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Out-of School Suspensions2005-06 through 2015-16, MAPC Region

FIGURE 4. Data source: Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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Some of the most troubling trends related to economic mobility have worsened over recent years in Metro Boston. If inequity often breaks across economic and racial lines, the underlying disparities in earnings and wealth are widening. The most recent earnings data show that income polarization is increasing, and that this polarization disproportionately affects Black and Latino residents. The average income for the highest-earning fifth of households ($272,500) is 18 times higher than average income for the lowest-income fifth of households ($14,900). That ratio has increased by two points since 2006, indicating greater disparity between the earnings of high- and low-income households. The highest-income fifth now earns 13% more than in 2006, while real dollar income of lowest-

income fifth is 1% less than it was ten years ago.

This can be attributed in part to wage polarization and the decline of the middle class. Even as the total number of jobs and working households grew, the absolute number of middle-income households fell by 2%, and the share of working households considered middle-income declined from 33% of the total to only 26%.

By concentrating earnings and the benefits of economic growth into a smaller number of people, growing income inequality limits upward economic mobility, making it less likely that children in low income families will earn more than their parents. This reduction in income mobility disproportionately affects Black and Latino households, whose

median incomes are less than half of median incomes for White and Asian households. While median incomes did not change significantly for White, Asian, and Latino households since the last State of Equity report, median income declined for Black households, falling from $45,800 to $43,600.

MAPC’s 2011 report found that even people of color who earn a substantial income face continued discrimination in choosing where to live. In particular, high-income applicants (those earning more than $118,000 per year) who are Black are more than twice as likely to be denied a mortgage than high-income borrowers who are White. Similar discrimination exists for Latino and Native American applicants. There has been some progress in recent years: for high-income

Percent Change in Mean Household Income by Quintile, Compared to 2006 (adjusted to 2015 dollars)Metro Boston MSA (MA-NH), 2006 through 2015

FIGURE 5. Data source: American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates

Income polarization and discrimination limit economic mobility

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Median Household Income by Race/Ethnicity2005-09 to 2010-14, Metro Boston MSA (MA)

FIGURE 6. Data source: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimate

Home Mortgage Denial Rate for High Income Applicants2009 and 2015, MAPC Region

FIGURE 7. Data source: Home Mortgage Disclosure Act

Many residents are sidelined from the regional economy

Black applicants, the denial rate dropped 4.7 percentage points, and for high-income Latino applicants the denial rate dropped 3.3 percentage points. However, the approval gap remains high, and will require strong and sustained efforts to erase.

Disproportionate denial rates are one contributing factor to the widening homeownership gap in the region. While homeownership rates overall have dropped slightly in the last ten years, the declines have been most substantial for Black and Latino householders, whose

homeownership rates (32% and 25%, respectively) are less than half of homeownership rates for White householders (68%).

Metro Boston’s economy has been growing robustly since the Great Recession, and by the end of 2016 the Metro Boston’s official unemployment rate was 2.5%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Some observers have commented that the state has reached “full employment” and have expressed concerns about labor shortages that may occur in the coming years as more Baby Boomers retire. While this concern is real, there is also abundant evidence that the region is not making the

most of its resident population to power the economy. Labor force participation rates for people with only a high school degree are 12 percentage points lower than the rates for those with a bachelor’s degree, and trending downward, suggesting that more efforts are needed to provide the additional education and training that can “unlock” this potential labor supply.

Despite the historically low unemployment rate, several other groups continue to

experience challenges in finding employment. Unemployment estimates collected by the U.S. Census Bureau over the past five years are not directly comparable to the BLS statistics, but they do show important disparities across different groups. According to those estimates, the unemployment rate for people with a disability is more than ten percentage points higher than for people without a disability. The unemployment rate for workers who are Black is nearly 7 percentage points higher than the

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rate for workers who are White, and the Latino rate is nearly 5 points higher.

Incarceration severely limits job, housing, and educational opportunities for former inmates, and it costs the state a tremendous amount. As of January 1, 2016, there were over 10,000 people in prison in Massachusetts Department of Corrections facilities, and Black and Latino inmates are severely over-represented in the system. Although the state population is 7% Black and 11% Latino, the state’s DOC inmates are 27% Black and 25% Latino. Native Americans residents, as of 2016, have the highest rate of incarceration in the state’s prison system. The number of inmates statewide dropped by 12% from 2010 to 2016, and the disparities in incarceration rate for residents who are Black and Latino also declined, albeit slowly. The work to close these gaps needs to continue, as does the work to support released prisoners as they reenter society.

Massachusetts Department of Corrections Jurisdiction Population as a Percent of Total Population by Race/Ethnicity, 2010 through 2016

FIGURE 9. Data source: Massachusetts Department of Corrections Inmate Characteristics by Race/Ethnicity

Unemployment Rate2011-15, MAPC Region

FIGURE 8. Data source: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimate

As the Baby Boomer generation ages, the region will experience substantial growth in the senior population, which may grow by 75% between 2010 and 2030. As a result, it is increasingly important to address the needs of older adults and minimize inequities in their senior years. This is especially true since people are living longer. Over a

five year period, the premature mortality rate (the number of deaths under the age of 75) in the region decreased from 303 per 100,000 to 280 per 100,000 residents. Specifically, the above-average premature mortality rates for White and Black residents declined, while rates for Asian, Latino, and Native American remained statistically

unchanged. Black residents continue to have the highest premature mortality rate (348 per 100,000.)

An increasing share of adults are continuing to work past age 65. The labor force participation rate of older adults (ages 65 or older) has been increasing steadily since 2009, after the Recession. It’s not

Metro Boston residents are living longer, but are facing financial burdens in their later years

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Conclusions

clear if this is due to preference or necessity, but it is clear that financial burdens for many older adults, whether working or on a fixed income, are substantial. The poverty rate of older adults is nearly 10%, statistically unchanged from 2005-09, but grandparents responsible for their grandchildren have a poverty rate of more than 15%, double that of grandparents not responsible for their grandchildren.

Older adults are more housing cost burdened (meaning that they pay more than 30% of their income on housing) than younger adults. Nearly 60% of renter households headed by an older adult are cost burdened, and more than a third of households where the homeowner is an older adult are cost burdened. These renter and owner housing cost burden rates are unchanged since 2005-09, even though for younger householders who own their home, housing cost burden

has decreased by more than 5 percentage points. These figures suggest that as the number of fixed-income Baby Boomer retirees grows substantially over the coming decades, the region may be facing a cost burden crisis even greater than the one we have today.

Premature Mortality Rate per 100,0002003-07 and 2008-12, MAPC Region

FIGURE 10. Data source: Massachusetts Department of Public Health, MassCHIP

Cost Burden by Age for Renters and Owners2011-15, Metro Boston MSA (MA)

FIGURE 11. Data source: American Community Survey5-Year Estimate

The key findings presented here (and the full set of indicators available at www.regionalindicators.org) demonstrate that inequities remain a significant and growing problem in Metro Boston. Due to concerted efforts and leadership, some progress has been made in closing gaps in

education, housing opportunity, incarceration rates, and some health indicators. Many of these improvements followed specific policy interventions or investments made with the explicit intention of reducing inequities. These successes demonstrate that by quantifying the problem, identifying policy

solutions, and building broad coalitions, real change can happen – we can bend the trends.

Our findings also demonstrate that the barriers to equity continue to grow on many fronts, and much more work is needed to keep ahead of those challenges, and ultimately eliminate them. In particular, efforts in public health

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and education will pay dividends for decades to come by helping more youth to grow up to become healthy, skilled, and engaged adults. The Commonwealth and its municipalities must continue momentum related to disparate policing and prison reform to reduce the number of people caught up in the criminal justice system. While income inequality is a growing problem nationally, there are many steps that Massachusetts and Metro Boston can take to address the problem locally, through wage regulations and more progressive tax structures. Finally, the persistent and problematic

racial and economic segregation that contributes to many of the inequities observed here must be addressed through policies designed to revitalize low-income neighborhoods without displacing the residents already there, while also opening up high-opportunity suburbs to a broader range of people.

Despite the enormous challenges facing Metro Boston, there is cause for optimism. This region is fortunate to be home to an ecosystem of organizations and individuals committed to advancing equity. From leaders on Beacon Hill and municipal

government to think tanks and universities, to social justice organization and community development corporations, thousands are engaged in this effort. MAPC hopes that this indicators report will provide our allies with data-driven insights into the progress made and the challenges that remain. We will use this report to help shape our policy priorities and encourage others to do the same. This work is not easy, and it won’t happen overnight, but together we can make a Greater, and more equitable, Boston Region.

To learn more about MetroFuture and MAPC’s project work, visit projects.metrofuture.org.