In the second case, that of the US, the level of segregation of Blacks is extreme, and is the defining case of ghettoization among minorities in af- fluent countries. [...] Canadian and European research exploring the extreme segregation of visible minorities began in the mid 1 0s and was largely framed around the extent to which the Canadian experience paralleled that of the US. [...] In all cases the higher the value/size of the variable, the higher the indices of segregation are likely to be. [...] Explanations of underclass development cite the importance of economic restructuring and the decline and relocation of manufacturing and public sector employment (Kasarda 1 0); the suburbanization of middle class Blacks and Hispanics from inner city ghetto communities (Wilson 1 87); the retrenchment of welfare and public housing programs (Jencks 1 2); and the legacy of institutional racism and r [...] This advanced marginality is characterized at both a per- sonal and neighbourhood level by uncertainty and precariousness in the wage labour market, disconnection from the vagaries of the macro-economy, geo- graphical concentration and the stigmatization of place, alienation from other residents within the community, erosion of personal and professional support networks and a lack of shared commun