(DP 2000-05) Measuring Urban Well-Being: Race and Gender Matter

Abstract

Studies attempting to measure social well-being focus attention at national levels, failing to provide insights into the actual conditions that are present at sub-national levels. With increased attention being focused on the conditions of urban areas, the need for sub-national evaluation is becoming more apparent. Also, the growing diversity of the population and increase in female headed households leave researchers without resources for evaluating the conditions of these groups in smaller regional settings, in part due to the scarcity of well-being measurements at these levels.

This study hopes to fill in the gap needed for measuring well-being at sub-national levels by estimating indices at the country level. Exactly how the level of urbanization and social well-being are related is the subject of our inquiry. Our estimations will focus on urban counties, with particular emphasis on the fifty largest counties. The aim is to evaluate the well-being of the general population in metropolitan areas, comparing it to those for female heads of households and people of color.