A new study uses big data to explain long-standing research showing that a poor child’s loose social connections, such as to mentors or their wealthier friends’ parents, can help lift that child out of poverty.
“For people you know very well, with whom you have strong ties, you have very similar resources or social statuses,” Song says. “But what will really help you find a job, say … are those with a weak tie to you.” That’s because people outside a child’s immediate orbit can show them options for the future they may otherwise never consider, such as attending college or certain career tracks.
The researchers studied other measures of social capital, or the value of one’s relationships, including what the researchers call cohesiveness, or how tight-knit a friendship network was, and civic engagement such as volunteering, which indicated one’s involvement in community groups. . Exposure refers to the average number of wealthy people that a poor person comes into contact with in their daily lives, such as at school, work or a religious organization. Friending bias refers to the rate at which poor people befriend wealthier individuals within those social spheres. High friending bias can arise from both people’s desire to hang out with others like themselves and structural barriers, such as tracking in schools, Chetty noted., the researchers found .
Building these connections — even after childhood ends — is key to reducing friendship bias and improving economic outcomes for poorer people across the country, the researchers emphasize. As an example of the type of new program that’s needed, they point to a nonprofit called Inner City Weightlifting, headquartered in Dorchester, Mass., whose mission is connecting people from different social worlds.
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