How We Rise: How social networks impact economic mobility
The Brookings Institution shared data from How We Rise: How social networks impact economic mobility in Racine, WI, San Francisco, CA, and Washington, DC. This study focused on the differences in an individual’s social networks and how those differences impact economic mobility. In this study, they found that race is the most important and consistent determinate of social networks. In Racine, they found that education and employment opportunities were where many individuals created most of their social connections. Barriers to education and employment opportunities for black community members could explain the racial disparities in social networks,
Maurice Horton, City of Racine Alderman, represented Racine in a panel discussion of the data. Alderman Horton discussed his experience working in the Racine community and gave his insights into how policies and programs can both help and hinder the building of social networks in Racine, especially for Black residents.
Alderman Horton acknowledged that while there is a lot of great work happening in Racine, bringing trusted members of the community into decision making and outreach work is crucial to creating policies that improve social outcomes.
The data collected by the Brookings Institute highlighted how small social networks for jobs often are for Black men, which the researchers attributed to high suspension rates for Black students and high incarceration rates of Black men in Racine. Alderman Horton spoke of his experience being formerly incarcerated and how sharing that experience helps motivate others to know they, too, can move on after sentencing.
"They see me and they know, hey, if he can do it, I can do it too. It's not so much just outreach being done, but who is selling it the story and people trusting it" Alderman Horton said.
Alderman Horton also discussed how often the programs in place are created for the communities and not with them. Often this leads to programs that don’t dismantle barriers for the community but perpetuate them.
"Those who are in the room or at the table sometimes put things together without even asking the community, 'is this good for the community?' We just put it together and then often, we wonder why did it fail? It failed because we didn't have input from the community.” said Alderman Horton, “You're just building stuff in the community that people have no desire to go to, and that's not going to get them to their next level."
This data speaks to how barriers to education and employment in Racine limit the ability to create robust social networks that grant access to greater opportunities. By utilizing this data to influence more decisions, and increase the access community has to decision-makers and opportunities.
“This is an opportunity for us to not just talk about it [improving social networks], but have some data to support moving us in that direction,” said Alderman Horton.
Learn more about the How We Rise findings