When do they leave? The dynamics of living in low-income neighbourhoods

We use longitudinal tax data to explore several undocumented aspects of residential spells in low-income neighbourhoods. Although new spells generally last much longer than spells in the low-income state, both types of spells exhibit negative duration dependence. While factors such as family type, age, and local unemployment rates play a considerable role in the length of both types of spells, the magnitude of these roles is quite different. These differences suggest that in contrast to the low-income state, the dynamics of low-income neighbourhood spells are largely shaped by non-economic factors.