Joseph Galaskiewicz University of Arizona
The study examines conditions that contribute to children's quality of life. Does the availability of organizational resources in a community affect children's well being? Why do certain neighborhoods have more organizational resources than others? What changes have taken place over the last decade in the wake of the Great Recession? In answering these questions we hope to understand why some neighborhoods are better places for children to live than others. The project will complete telephone surveys with 1,100 households in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area with children between 5 and 12 and ask about what children did ?last Saturday? and about the family?s use of medical providers over the last six months. This replicates a survey the investigator conducted in 2003-04. Using a variety of sources the investigator also collects data on the locations of establishments which provide activities for children in 2013 and match these with comparable geo-coded establishments for 2003, 2007, 2008, and 2009. These data will provide information on which neighborhoods and suburbs increased/decreased their stock of organizational resources over the last decade, and, comparing the 2003-04 to 2013-14 survey results, if this resulted in families changing their utilization of neighborhood resources.
Broader Impacts
The work has broader significance, because children?s access to different types of organizational resources is important for their educational, emotional, and social development. Research findings have the potential to help us better understand why and how organizational resources are distributed geographically and if they make a difference in the lives of children. Also, results could generate insights to inform policies that would ensure that neighborhoods provide productive organizational options for their young residents.
