A recent study published in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities reveals a significant link between increasing school segregation and persistent racial health disparities in the United States. Researchers found that, while residential segregation has remained largely unchanged from 1991 to 2020, school segregation has increased. This rise in school segregation correlates with higher levels of racial health disparities.
“While a number of papers have examined health effects of residential segregation and some have examined health effects of residential segregation, very few have simultaneously examined the effects of both types of segregation,” said study author Michael Siegel, a professor of public health and community medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine.
“In addition, while there are many cross-sectional studies that have examined the relationship between racial segregation and health outcomes, very few have looked at changes in segregation and whether they affect subsequent health outcomes. These were the two main novel research questions that we asked in this study.”
The researchers analyzed data from 1,051 U.S. counties over nearly three decades, from 1991 to 2020. They used data on racial composition from the U.S. Census to gather information on segregation. They measured segregation using the index of dissimilarity and the entropy index for residential segregation, and the normalized exposure index for school segregation. These indices capture the extent to which Black and White populations are separated within residential areas and schools.
Health outcomes were assessed using several indicators: life expectancy, early mortality (deaths before age 65), infant mortality, firearm homicide rates, total homicide rates, and teen birth rates. The data for these health outcomes were extracted from reputable sources like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s WONDER database and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
The researchers found that residential segregation remained relatively stable from 1991 to 2020, showing little overall change. In contrast, school segregation increased significantly during the same period, particularly from 1991 to 2000, and then remained high through 2020.
“We were surprised that racial school segregation is increasing in recent years, not decreasing,” Siegel told PsyPost.
Counties with higher levels of school segregation experienced greater racial disparities in several health outcomes. These counties had higher disparities in life expectancy, early mortality, infant mortality, firearm homicide, total homicide, and teen birth rates compared to counties with lower levels of school segregation.
“We found that during the period 1991-2020, racial residential segregation was essentially unchanged among the 1,051 counties in our sample,” Siegel said. “However, racial school segregation increased during this period. Moreover, increases in school segregation from 1991 to 2000 were associated with higher levels of racial disparities in health outcomes during the period 2000-2020 and with less progress in reducing these disparities.”
The researchers also found that counties with the highest levels of both residential and school segregation, and those that experienced the greatest increases in school segregation, had the worst health outcomes. These counties were predominantly urban, with high population densities, and were often located in the Northeast and Midwest.
One of the key findings was that school segregation emerged as an independent predictor of racial health disparities. This means that even in counties with high residential segregation, reducing school segregation could have a significant positive impact on reducing health disparities.
“This paper provides new evidence that school segregation is associated with higher levels of racial health disparities, even after accounting for the degree of racial residential segregation,” Siegel explained. “This means that reducing school segregation could be effective in reducing racial health disparities.”
But the study, like all research, includes some caveats. For instance, the analysis was restricted to counties with sufficient data, which may limit the generalizability of the results.
“Because of limited data availability, analyses for some of the health outcomes excluded a large number of counties,” Siegel noted. “This means that readers should be cautious in generalizing our findings to all counties. Our next plan is to look at historical redlining and its relationship with current health outcomes.”
The study, “Association Between Changes in Racial Residential and School Segregation and Trends in Racial Health Disparities, 2000–2020: A Life Course Perspective,” was authored by Michael Siegel and Vanessa Nicholson-Robinson.