An updated tool called the Opportunity Compass aims to show how the Charlotte community is doing in its quest to help children born into poverty climb the economic ladder. The latest report shows Charlotte mostly holding steady, with a decline tied to child and family stability.
The Compass tracks data across five main areas: early care and education; child and family stability; college and career readiness; the impact of segregation; and social capital.
As part of the data, community members are able to explore each of the five areas and get a sense of some of the factors that contribute to whether improvements are being made. AJ Calhoun is the team’s director, researcher, and impact tracker. He says there are a few reasons why child and family stability is declining.
"It's because we're seeing outcomes declining in the areas that are most important to the community,” Calhoun said. "In things like the number of adults who have a primary care provider, things like how close people live to a grocery store.”
The group Leading on Opportunity was formed after a 2014 study by Harvard researcher Raj Chetty. What is now known as the 'Chetty study' ranked Charlotte as the worst region in the U.S. for upward mobility. The ranking caused concerns amongst local leaders and led to the city of Charlotte investing millions in initiatives like the mayor's racial equity initiative in an attempt to close the gap.
Last year, Charlotte received some good news after a new study by the researcher highlighted that Charlotte had made improvements and now ranks 38th out of 50. The data the group uses for the study comes from a range of publicly available sources, similar to those Raj Chetty used in his original research.
As part of the initial study released in 2022 by Leading on Opportunity, the data set ranged from 2015 to 2019, with the latest dataset ranging past the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic to 2022. Tonya Anderson, the groups director of civic engagement, said the group spoke with about 200 residents. This time, Anderson said they've spoken with more than 650 residents for additional input on what some of their top priorities are that help towards upward economic mobility.
One of the things that came out from the discussions, Anderson said, was that people want more information on mental health data.
“The pandemic made it okay to talk about that were not okay,” Anderson said. "So, we want to figure out a way, and people want to see what our county is really doing to address mental health needs.”
The Opportunity Compass also highlighted that there have been improvements in Early Care and Education — something that was on a downward trajectory in the last study. The latest compass also features 49 new indicators of economic mobility.
The hope is that the Compass will give city and county leaders, alongside local philanthropists and nonprofits, with insight into where work is needed to improve children's odds.
