The Opportunity Atlas uses anonymous data following 20 million
Americans from childhood to their mid-thirties. It gives data on how
much kids who grew up in certain neighborhoods earn as adults.
Stanford University researchers found that almost half of parental
income advantages in the United States are passed on to children.
The research also found that a family's economic circumstances play
an important role in determining a child's economic prospects.
Children raised in families in the 90th percentile for household
income can expect their own family income to be three times higher
than children raised at the 10th percentile for household income.
According to the American Community Survey, 1 in 3 American Indians
are living in poverty--with a median income of $23,000 a year. The
findings at Stanford show that children raised in families that are
"far apart on the income ladder can expect very different economic
futures". Using the data from the Opportunity Atlas, we will be able
to determine if the statement holds true with American Indians in
the United States.
Disregarding parental income, American Indians earn, on average nationwide, $31,719. When parental income is high, American Indians earn $41,851 and when parental income is low, they earn $25,704 yearly.
We see that there are a lot of reservations on the West part of the United States and especially in Arizona, but we can see that most of the American Indians in the states where reservations are located don't necessarily make the most money.
When we look at states where parents had a high income, we see that American Indians earn most in:
| State | Avg Income |
|---|---|
| Oklahoma | $54,075 |
| Texas | $51,108 |
| Delaware | $48,894 |
When we look at states where parents had a low income, we see that American Indians earn most in:
| State | Avg Income |
|---|---|
| West Virginia | $35,236 |
| Kansas | $31,924 |
| Texas | $31,324 |
We can see that the Stanford study was right: children raised in
families with low parental income have less opportunities and earn
less as adults. This indicates the need for public policies to
change--children of affluent families can work more, have childcare,
have access to private schools, and afford their children the chance
to get to college.
There is additional research that can be done, including a
comparison of more factors of children growing up (i.e. education,
social exposure, neighborhood statistics), but overall, we can see that American Indians with parents from a low income background
do not earn as much as children with wealthier parents do.