The Impact of Historical Redlining on Youth Education Opportunity

Background and Purpose: Scholars are exploring the long-lasting harms that historical redlining has imposed on communities and residents, including adverse health outcomes, increased exposure to environmental hazards, and neighborhood disinvestment.. However, there is a gap in the existing research on the relationship between historical redlining and present-day youth education opportunities.

While redlining may not be an active practice in the 21^st Century, lingering inequalities and adverse effects are still felt today. Given the critical role education plays in youth development and its connection to neighborhood resilience and growth, this study aims to explore and describe the relationship between historical redlining and youth education opportunities in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Methods: This study used data from the Diversity Data Kids Childhood Opportunity Index 3.0 (COI 3.0) and Meier and Mitchell’s (2022) Historic Redlining Scores (HRS) to assess youth education opportunities in Salt Lake City’s redlined and non-redlined census tracts (n=44). The COI 3.0’s youth education opportunity score includes four subdomains: early childhood education, elementary education, secondary and post-secondary education attainment, and educational resources. In addition, neighborhood wealth and concentrated socioeconomic status from the COI 3.0 served as covariates.

The author used R software to conduct a multiple linear regression model to analyze the relationship between census tracts and youth education opportunities. In addition, ArcGIS was utilized to map results across Salt Lake City, highlighting disparities and providing insight into the city’s educational landscape.

Results: The results suggest that historical redlining is associated with lower educational and economic conditions, while socioeconomic advantages, such as neighborhood wealth and concentrated socioeconomic status, are strongly tied to greater youth education opportunity in Salt Lake City.

The multiple regression analysis includes results from two models. Model 1 (adjusted R² = 0.57) was significant, F (2, 41) = 30.39, p < .000. Both neighborhood wealth (β = 0.33, p <.000) and concentrated socioeconomic status (β = 0.52, p < .000) had positive relationships with youth education opportunity, suggesting that higher neighborhood wealth and socioeconomic status were associated with better educational outcomes for youth.

When redlining was added to the model, the adjusted R² increased to 0.70. Model 2 was also statistically significant, F (3, 40) = 35.0, p < .000. In this model, redlining was negatively associated with youth education opportunity (β = -0.45, p < .000), with youth in redlined areas having lower educational opportunities. Both neighborhood wealth (β = 0.28, p <.000) and concentrated socioeconomic status (β = 0.28, p <.000) remained positively associated with youth education opportunity.

Conclusions and Implications: Findings demonstrate how the legacy of historical redlining continues to influence education outcomes in a relatively small urban setting like Salt Lake City. Unlike past studies that focus almost exclusively on health, this study examines educational factors such as youth education opportunity. These findings point to the lasting influence of historically discriminatory government policies and suggest that meaningful policy responses may be necessary to address persistent patterns of disinvestment.