Mapping Block-Level Segregation: The Twin Cities’ Black Population, 1980-2010

Research, data preparation, story and graphics by Amalea Jubara and Yaxuan Zhang (Minnesota Population Center, Summer Diversity Fellows), mentored by Jonathan Schroeder (IPUMS Research Scientist) and Ying Song (Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Environment & Society)

Edited by Jonathan Schroeder (IPUMS Research Scientist)

IPUMS NHGIS Block Data: An Expanding Collection

The most spatially precise U.S. census data are block-level tables, summarizing population and housing characteristics for millions of blocks throughout the country. IPUMS NHGIS provides block-level tables for the 1970 to 2010 decennial censuses as well as block boundary files for 1990, 2000 and 2010. This collection is set to grow substantially in the next few years as NHGIS adds new 2020 census block data and as we continue with a major initiative to construct 1980 and 1970 block boundary files. This expansion will open up new possibilities for high-precision spatial analysis across a longer time span.

A Case Study of the Twin Cities’ Black Population

To demonstrate some of the potential value of this expanding collection, we use NHGIS block data, including some not-yet-released 1980 block boundaries, to explore the recent history of racial segregation and integration in the Black population of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, from 1980 to 2010. We present the block data in an interactive map along with data on early-20th-century racial covenants and the “redlining” zones of the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC), recently published by the Mapping Prejudice and Mapping Inequality projects.

The block-level changes since 1980 show a striking trend toward greater dispersion and integration of Black residents, but segregation persists; several neighborhoods still have uniformly low or high proportions of Black residents. By overlaying racial covenants and HOLC zones with the block data, we can also find cases where the historical discriminatory practices appear to have left a lasting imprint on the distribution of Black residents.

Continue reading…

1930/31 Time Diary Data from College Educated Women in the United States

IPUMS Time Use, in partnership with Dr. Teresa Harms of the Centre for Time Use Research, is proud to announce the public release of the 1930-31 USDA College Women Time Use study. These data provide researchers a unique look into the lives of married, college-educated women at the beginning of the Great Depression. The respondents were asked to complete a detailed record of their time use for seven consecutive 24-hour periods (see a sample daily diary below; borrowed with permission from Teresa Harms, CTUR). The women described activities in their own words, listing them consecutively as they occurred throughout the day, with a minimum interval of five minutes. They also recorded the time devoted to various homemaking tasks by other household members and paid help as well as demographic and work status data and information about the household. The data also include the verbatim activity reports and the occupations the women reported at the time of data collection. All data are available via the IPUMS American Heritage Time Use Study (AHTUS) extract system.

Continue reading…

2021 IPUMSI New Data Release Highlights

Map depicting where IPUMSI has dataIPUMS International has added 19 new census samples and new labor force surveys.  First-time data release countries include four new countries from four different continents—Finland, Mauritius, Myanmar, and Suriname. Other newly added samples extend pre-existing series. Another first is the addition of labor force surveys from Spain and Italy. See a summary of the full IPUMS collection on the IPUMSI samples page.

In addition to the new data, check out the usage-enhancing highlights that are part of this recent release.

  • Spatially-harmonized migration variables
  • New work variables that maximize the utility of newly-harmonized labor force surveys
  • New disability variables per The Washington Group recommendations
  • Access to harmonization tables and code for registered IPUMS data users
  • Population density variables for all samples with the requisite geography- POPDENSGEO1 and POPDENSGEO2 capture the population density in persons per square kilometer of the first and second administrative units of the household, respectively.
  • Variables AREAMOLLWGEO1 and AREAMOLLWGEO2 provided for additional convenience
  • New lower level single-sample variables for select countries, as well as regionalized variables and shapefiles at the 3rd administrative level for Senegal 2013 and 2002, South Africa 2016, 2011, and 2007, and Uganda 2014, and Myanmar 2014

Continue reading…