Predictor Environmental quality

Environments can affect people’s health and well-being. Low environmental quality, such as poor air quality, extreme heat, vulnerability to disasters, and exposure to toxic wastes, can be barriers to upward mobility and exacerbate the burdens of poverty.

Evidence on the Relationship between Environmental Quality and Upward Mobility Outcomes

As of December 2021, researchers have documented the following connections between this predictor and upward mobility. Asterisk (*) indicates primary reference. 

  • Compared with people in higher-income families, people in lower-income families living in lower-income neighborhoods are more exposed to toxic wastes and environmental hazards (Fothergill and Peek 2004*; Greenberg 2016). A 2010 study found that in areas of high impact from accidental releases of hazardous materials, 11.7 percent of families had incomes below the federal poverty level, whereas in low-impact areas, only 5.5 percent of families had incomes below the federal poverty level (p < .01). Greenberg (2016) finds that neighborhoods closest to coal impoundments in Appalachia have slightly higher poverty and unemployment rates than other neighborhoods. More broadly, low-income groups, people of color, and working-class people have suffered disproportionately more from exposure to criteria pollutants—which include particle pollution, ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and lead—as well as toxic emissions from waste generation, storage, and disposal facilities (Margai 2004; Taylor 2014). Furthermore, remediation and cleanup activities near these populations have typically not been prioritized (Margai 2004).
  • Environmental quality, in terms of both the natural and the built environment, is associated with vulnerability to disasters. People with low incomes are more exposed to disasters because of poorer environmental quality (e.g., exposure to toxic wastes) and factors such as place and type of residence, building construction, and social exclusion (Fothergill and Peek 2004*). Studies have shown that low-income populations are disproportionally affected by natural hazards and disasters, and losses from disasters are more pervasive for those with lower socioeconomic status who lack the financial resources needed to cope with such shocks. People with incomes below the federal poverty level are more likely to be financially devastated by a disaster, so their subsistence and long-term prospects are more threatened. For example, hurricane victims with the lowest incomes experience the greatest proportionate losses to their housing (Fothergill and Peek 2004*; Hallegatte et al. 2020). Moreover, although middle- and high-income professionals tend to be able to collect paychecks throughout a crisis, lower-income workers earning hourly wages, such as those working in service-oriented jobs, typically are unable to continue to work; and for those experiencing poverty, lack of resources needed to cope with disasters may intensify previous economic stress problems (Fothergill and Peek 2004*).
  • Studies suggest that lower levels of prenatal pollution exposures are associated with better educational and economic mobility outcomes. A study found that one standard deviation decrease in the mean pollution level in a student’s year of birth is associated with 1.87 percent of a standard deviation increase in test scores in high school (Sanders 2012). Another study found that the total suspended particle concentration in a person’s year of birth is negatively associated with later income among children born at or below the 25th percentile household income threshold. A standard deviation increase in total suspended particle concentration in the birth year is associated with a 0.14 point reduction in the mean income percentile rank that low-income children achieve in adulthood, which is equivalent to a lower household income by $140 a year (O’Brien et al. 2018). Meanwhile, research examining the long-term impacts of early childhood exposure to air pollution on adult outcomes found a causal link between pollution level in the birth year and lower earnings and reduced labor-force participation at age 30 (Isen, Rossin-Slater, and Walker 2017).
  • Research shows that poor air quality is associated with poor health outcomes. One study found that 23.6 percent of low-birth-weight cases and 6.8 percent of lung cancer cases were attributable to air pollution (95 percent confidence interval, 3.1–10.1 percent) (Morelli et al. 2016). Exposure to air pollution is also linked to increased hospitalizations for children for asthma. A study using the CalEnviroScreen, a measure of environmental and social indicators that are theorized to have cumulative health impacts on a population, found that a one-unit increase in the CalEnviroScreen score is associated with an increase of 1.6 percent above the mean rate of pediatric asthma hospitalizations (Alcala et al. 2019). Furthermore, research finds that poverty and air pollution are linked to an increased risk of conflict and violence, and that poverty- and air pollution–related stress affects cognitive function (Kristiansson et al. 2015).
  • A growing number of correlational studies link prenatal exposure to air particulate matter with negative health and developmental outcomes (O’Brien et al. 2018).
  • Research shows that neighborhoods where 90 percent or more of residents are experiencing poverty have 41 percent less tree canopy than neighborhoods where only 10 percent or less of residents are experiencing poverty (Cusick 2021). A Phoenix-based study found that warmer neighborhoods are more likely to be home to people of lower socioeconomic status and people of color, and that people in warmer neighborhoods have fewer social and material resources to cope with extreme heat and therefore have higher climate-related health risks (Harlan et al. 2006). When it comes to heat-related health risks, people who are poor, sick, or very young or old and people who work intensely in high heat exposure are most at risk. Workers in the agriculture and construction industries—both industries that employ low-wage workers in the US—can be affected by heat stress (Nilsson and Kjellstrom 2010).

Promising Local Policy Interventions

Research from both Urban and others in the field suggests the following policies could help communities improve this predictor. These suggestions are not exhaustive, and communities should work with residents and leaders to identify solutions that are best suited to their local contexts.

Mobility Metric(s) Used to Measure This Predictor

Air quality

Carcinogenic, respiratory, and neurological toxins in the air can harm people’s health. A higher value for this metric indicates better air quality and lower exposure to toxins. 

View the full suite of metrics used to measure all the predictors in the Upward Mobility Framework.

Mobility Dimensions Engaged

  • Dignity and belonging