Neigbourhood ethnic composition and social participation of young people in England

Abstract

We analyse how neighbourhood ethnic diversity and segregation aect adolescents' social participation in England. We distinguish between participation in `purposeful activities'- such as sports and volunteering - and hanging around with friends. We suggest a novel identication strategy to address the problem of endogeneity of ethnic diversity and segregation. We nd that ethnic diversity decreases hanging around, while ethnic segregation increases it. No eects are found on participation in purposeful activities.