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The Moving to Opportunity Study
The Findings
Enabling low-income children living in concentrated poverty to move to higher opportunity neighborhoods dramatically improves their life prospects.
The Moving to Opportunity Study was a large scale randomized controlled experiment,
the gold standard in the social sciences.
The Study
-
Treatment group families received a voucher to move to a lower poverty neighborhood.
Outcomes were strikingly better for young kids who moved.
32% more likely to
attend college
31% higher incomes
in early adulthood
26% less likely to be
single mothers
70% lower risk of severe
anxiety disorders for girls
And this was in spite of major program limitations.
$0
19
8.2
th
Families received no
supportive services
Kids attended just
19th percentile
schools
Kids moved too late,
at 8.2 years old
on average
Our model is designed to deliver even more dramatic results.
We reach kids
early.
We target communities
with 80th percentile
schools.
And we provide robust
supportive services.
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