Our 2021 research is focused on equity. We are exploring equity in the economy, environment and climate, health, and more.
Equity in Economic Opportunity
How race, place, and class impact opportunity in Indianapolis
Children born to low-income families in Indianapolis have worse economic outcomes than almost any other large city, and there are stark disparities for Black children and children who grew up in low-income neighborhoods.
How are you using these data? What other data would be useful for you?
Events
SAVI Talks: Equality of Opportunity
August 26
IU Fairbanks School of Public Health is partnering with The Polis Center to analyze gaps in life expectancy across communities.
SAVI Talks: Equity in Aging
April 22
Older adults face issues of equity on a daily basis. The Polis Center, IU Public Policy Institute, and the IU Center for Public Policy Research partner with Central Indiana Senior Fund to highlight these issues and solutions.
SAVI Talks: Equality of Opportunity
March 25
SAVI analysts will present the team’s latest research and WFYI will moderate a panel discussion.
Research Under Development
More equity research is in development, including the following projects.
A neighborhood model of economic opportunity
What drove opportunity in neighborhoods of the 1980s, and what can predict economic mobility for children growing up today?
What is the measurable effect of Redlining on segregation?
Over 80 years after communities of color were Redlined and excluded from federal mortgage guarantees, how strongly do modern patterns of segregation correlate with Redlined areas?
Life expectancy in Indianapolis neighborhoods
How long you live is influenced by where you lives and the resources you have. The Polis Center and the Fairbanks School of Public Health are partnering to update our 2015 research on disparities in life expectancy and examining social determinants of health.
Equity in the criminal justice system
We will explore data from the criminal justice system to understand the inequities and disproportionate effects on different populations. The issues we explore may include police arrests, incarceration, reentry, recidivism, and how these all connect to economic opportunity.
Measures of Equity
Our equity research agenda will incorporate a community conversation on the key indicators of equity. Until then, here are just a few examples of community-level measures of equity across race, gender, and neighborhoods. For more equity data, visit the SAVI Equity Profile.
Racial Equity
Mortgage denial rate by race
Gender Equity
Median earnings by gender
Neighborhood Equity
Broadband access by census tract
More Equity Research
Reports and articles from 2020 and earlier.
Indy Evictions May Reach 34,000 or More in 2020
An increase in unemployment claims could drive the eviction rate from 7 percent in 2016 to 20 percent in 2020, and informal evictions may be twice that.
Police Used Force on 1.3 Percent of Black Residents Since 2015
Police used force over 1,600 times in 2019. Officers use force on black residents at a rate 2.6 times higher than white residents.
Socioeconomic factors explain why some New York ZIP codes were hit hardest by COVID-19
By comparing New York’s COVID-19 test results with demographic and socioeconomic factors by ZIP code, we found that low education levels, crowded housing, and a lack of health insurance are some of the strongest predictors of high COVID-19 positivity rates.
The Inequalities Behind COVID-19 Disparities for African Americans in Indianapolis
COVID-19 positivity rate is 1.8 times higher for blacks than for whites. We explore how systemic inequities put many black individuals at higher risk for getting the virus, having a serious case, and suffering from the economic impacts compared to white residents.
Three Ways to Visualize COVID-19 Race and Gender Disparities
In Indiana, black individuals are 2.4 times more likely to test positive than whites. We look at three different ways to visualize COVID-19 disparities like this.
How long does it take to get to a grocery in each neighborhood?
This past November, we released the report Getting Groceries: Food Access Across Groups, Neighborhoods, and Time. Expanding on this report, we created an interactive map to display food access information for each block group in Marion County. Click on a block group...
Increasing Mortgage Values
Mortgage values are increasing across the county, indicating an increase in housing prices. We explore the fastest changing areas, as well as places with very little little mortgage activity.
Indy Neighborhoods with Fastest Changing Income Diversity
Most neighborhoods became more mixed-income between 2011 and 2016. Farley, near Ben Davis, had the biggest increase in income diversity, while the historically black suburb Grandview had the biggest decrease.
Indy’s Least Mixed-Income Neighborhoods
Explore neighborhoods where residents are highly concentrated into a few income groups. We dive into examples of concentrations of low-income residents, high-income residents, and middle-income residents.
Estimated 200,000 Indy Residents Live in Food Deserts
Using recent, local data to improve on food access measures, we find that an estimated 200,000 Indianapolis residents have low food access and live in low income areas.