Study: New Parents are More Likely to Leave DC

• January 16th 2015

by Lark Turner

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A new study on parenthood shows that new parents are more likely to leave DC than other residents.

The study, published Friday, was researched by Ginger Moored and Lori Metcalf with DC’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer. Using income tax data from 2001-2012, the study tracked who dropped from tax records over the time period. It found that new parents were more likely than other residents to move away.

Some of the study’s key findings:

• DC parents are most likely to move within the first four years of their first child’s life. If they don’t, they’re just as likely to stay as any other resident.
• Those earning middle class incomes are more likely to move than either high- or low-income parents.
• Parents living in downtown and close-in neighborhoods are more likely to leave. New parents most often choose to live in 20011 (Brightwood Park, Petworth) and 20002 (Capitol Hill, Hill East, Eckington, Trinidad), “both the year their first child is born and five years later.”

The data didn’t change much over the course of the study, the authors said: “We see no trend indicating that larger portions of new parents are choosing to stay in the city.”

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/new_parents_are_more_likely_to_leave_dc/9423.