Ethno-territorial features of social inequality in the USA

Abstract

The social fragmentation of the US population has pronounced ethno-territorial features. Using the example of ten ethnic groups of Americans of various ancestry (German, Italian, Polish, Russian, Chinese, Asian Indian, Filipino, Mexican, Cuban, Salvadoran), the spatial features of social inequality are examined. Six indicators of social well-being were considered in three areas: education, employment status and earnings. The indicators under consideration include: 1) proportion of individuals without a high school diploma; 2) proportion of individuals with a bachelor’s degree or higher; 3) proportion of individuals who are not in the labor force; 4) unemployment rate; 5) median annual earnings; and 6) proportion of individuals with income below poverty level. The states and the District of Columbia were taken as the spatial unit for analyzing the ethno-territorial heterogeneity of social inequality in the United States. The study revealed the socio-spatial heterogeneity of the US territory, determined the hierarchy of ethnic groups in terms of social well-being, and identified states that have the highest deviations from the “normal” distribution of the indicators under consideration. The results obtained make it possible to judge both the influence of ethnic origin and a specific territory on the level of social well-being of the US population. The existing social hierarchy of the considered ethnic groups is highly stable in most states. More often than not, members of a particular ethnic group living in more socially wealthy states will outperform members of the same group living in less socially wealthy states in terms of social well-being. However, this feature is not typical for all states and ethnic groups equally. This allows us to assert that in the United States, inequality between ethnic groups can acquire its own specific characteristics depending on a particular territory.