Poor children are more likely to become poor adults, but less so in some countries compared to others. A new IZA discussion paper by Zachary Parolin, Rafael Pintro Schmitt, Gøsta Esping-Andersen and Peter Fallesen investigates cross-national differences in how experiencing poverty as a child leads to higher likelihood of poverty in adulthood. Comparing the U.S., … Continue reading
The World Economic Forum has created a new index to measure social mobility, providing a much-needed assessment of the current state of social mobility worldwide. The index reveals there are only a few nations with the right conditions to foster social mobility. Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story @ Global Social Mobility Index … Continue reading
One of the most striking social science findings of recent years is that only half of today’s 30-year-olds earn more than their parents. Raj Chetty and his coauthors showed that rates of absolute mobility—that is, the share of children with higher inflation-adjusted incomes than their parents—declined from around 90 percent for children born in 1940 … Continue reading
Brookings Fellow Richard Reeves explores inequality and opportunity in America with Legos, using them to explain the chances for economic success of Americans born at the bottom of the economic ladder. Reeves shows the chances that the poorest fifth of Americans have to rise to the top, based on their race, the marital status of … Continue reading
Using these income data, we calculate two measures of intergenerational mobility. The first, relative mobility, measures the difference in the expected economic outcomes between children from high-income and low-income families. The second, absolute upward mobility, measures the expected economic outcomes of children born to a family earning an income of approximately $30,000 (the 25th percentile … Continue reading
A report from the Resolution Foundation, an independent thinktank, shows that of the 4.7 million workers who were low-paid in 2002, 1.3 million (27% of the total) didn’t improve their earnings at any point during the decade and that a further 2.2 million (46%) moved in and out of low pay but had failed to escape it for good by the end of the decade Continue reading
The U.S. is not a meritocracy. This is not to say that skills don’t matter. Continue reading
David Cameron’s social mobility and child poverty inquiry to issue grim warning as debt and job fears create ‘perfect storm’ Today’s middle-class children are on track to be the first in more than a century to be materially less well off in adulthood than their parents, a government commission is expected to warn this week. … Continue reading
Poverty blocks children from high-quality educational opportunities while privilege insures better schools, advanced degrees, and access to jobs linked to the networking of privilege Continue reading
American youth have little doubt that they will have a better life than their parents. Almost all fifth- through 12th-graders are optimistic about the future, saying they are very likely (43%) or somewhat likely (52%) to have a better standard of living, better homes, and a better education than their parents. A combined 5% of … Continue reading
An integral part of the American Dream is under threat – as “downward mobility” seems to be threatening the education system in the United States. The idea of going to college – and the expectation that the next generation will be better educated and more prosperous than its predecessor – has been hardwired into the … Continue reading
Pursuing the American Dream uses the most current available data to measure mobility by family income and wealth, and personal earnings to reveal how closely tied a person’s place on the economic ladder is to that of his or her parents’. Some of the highlights of the research include: Eighty-four percent of Americans have higher … Continue reading