- An increase in economic segregation between census tracts in the same state hardly changes overall educational attainment but it exacerbates inequality between high-income and low-income children.
- A state’s level of economic inequality but not its level of economic segregation between census tracts affects children’s educational attainment.
- With overall inequality held constant, an increase in economic segregation between census tracts is associated with an increase in high-income children’s educational attainment and a reduction in low-income children’s educational attainment.
- An increase in economic inequality that is distributed between census tracts increases the gap in educational attainment between high- and low-income children more than an increase in inequality that is distributed within neighborhoods. These results are consistent with the political economy model of how segregation would affect educational attainment.
- Economic inequality but not economic segregation affects overall educational attainment.
- This article does not necessarily imply that neighborhood economic inequality has no effect on children’s educational attainment.