The Racial Residential Segregation of Black Single Living Alone Households

Abstract

While many studies have examined the intersection of race and class with residential segregation and residential preferences, very little is known about the role played by household composition in shaping residential patterns. This paper focuses on the residential patterns of a particular kind of household: those consisting of persons single and living alone (SALA). We compare the residential segregation of black SALA households—an important subset of non-family households and a rapidly growing segment of the population—from white SALA households and both white and black married-couple households. We examine how group and metropolitan characteristics influence segregation levels for these household types. Using data from the 2000 census, we find that black SALA households are less segregated from white SALA households than from white married-couple households. Multivariate analyses show that smaller income differences across SALA households account for these segregation patterns, indicating the importance of economic resources in influencing residential patterns. Nevertheless, race continues to play an important role, as black SALA household segregation from both kinds of white households is high in absolute terms and relative to their segregation from black married-couple households.

Ethnic residential segregation: A matter of ethnic minority household characteristics?

“…Moreover, financial constraints could also keep these male singles in neighbourhoods with many coethnics. This finding would be consistent with findings for ethnic-minority singles in the United States (Marsh & Iceland, 2010) and ethnic-majority singles in Belgium (Coenen et al, forthcoming).…”

“…This residential segregation occurs as the aggregate result of the individual residential decisions households make and the constraints they face (Clark & Dieleman, ; Li & Tu, ). The three major theories about residential segregation of ethnic minorities—the ethnic enclave theory (Zhou, ), the spatial assimilation theory (Charles, ), and the place stratification theory (Charles, )—do not pay attention, however, to life cycle and household composition characteristics (Iceland et al, ) despite the importance of these characteristics to understanding residential mobility (see, e.g., Clark & Dieleman, ; Clark & Onaka, ; Coulter & Scott, ; Marsh & Iceland, ).…”

“…None of these theories pay attention to life cycle and household composition characteristics (Iceland, Goyette, Nelson, & Chan, ). However, residential mobility researchers have consistently found that someone's life cycle phase and transitions, and their household composition as a manifestation thereof, are important to understanding residential preferences and decisions (see, e.g., Clark & Dieleman, ; Clark & Onaka, ; Coulter & Scott, ; Marsh & Iceland, ). Life cycle transitions, such as marriage or the birth of a first child, often trigger residential moves, whereas the life cycle phase and household composition are strongly related to residential preferences, such as the number of rooms in a home or the preferred nearby amenities (Boterman, , ; Clark & Onaka, ; Feijten, Hooimeijer, & Mulder, ; Finney, ; Rabe & Taylor, ).…”

“…As these theories already use residential mobility to explain residential segregation, we believe that they should take household composition characteristics into account. With some notable exceptions (Iceland et al, ; Marsh & Iceland, ), however, studies examining segregation tend to overlook the characteristics of ethnic‐minority household composition. To address this gap and test the association between household composition characteristics and ethnic minorities' residential segregation, we use a conditional logit model to analyse households formed by young adults of Moroccan descent—Moroccans are the largest ethnic‐minority group in Belgium—in Belgium's two largest cities, Antwerp and Brussels.…”

Assessing the Role of Family Structure in Racial/Ethnic Residential Isolation

“…Surprisingly, very little scholarly research has focused on how residential segregation is shaped by race/ethnicity and family structure in contemporary metropolitan America, which would be in part attributable to the housing discrimination prohibited by the FHA and under state and local policies Marsh and Iceland 2010). find white families with children are more segregated from black, Hispanic, and Asian households than white households are in general.…”