The Strength of Weak Ties for Children in Poverty
Multiple studies have shown that the place where people grow up has a large effect on their income for the rest of their life, especially if they are poor. Karl Alexander, a Johns Hopkins University researcher, explained that “Poor children tend to be triply disadvantaged: They experience poverty at home, they experience poverty in their neighborhood, and they experience poverty in the schools they attend” (link below). However, Montgomery County in Maryland provides an exception to this, providing public housing for the poor amongst a wealthy population in an excellent school district. Children in public housing whose peers were above the poverty line performed much better than children in high poverty areas. This shows that their neighborhood and education are large factors in their success, not just their family’s income.
Additional studies show that the community must be fully integrated, not just geographically but also culturally, in order to reap these benefits. After constructing the network of people that the children interact with frequently, this point is clear. The children will form ties with their family, close neighbors, and friends from school. If the community is still segregated by income level in schools, churches, and restaurants, the children will not be able to develop these ties with people from other income classes. Therefore, they will not be exposed to novel opportunities through higher income peers. While these potential ties may not be strong, weak ties can bring novel information to children in poverty, allowing them to live a better life than their peers in high poverty areas. As mentioned in class, many new job opportunities come across weak ties and the same applies in this situation.