Economic mobility measures the relationship between a parent and child’s economic outcomes, usually in terms of income. Too often, an individual’s economic outcome in the United States is determined by parental resources, race, and privilege, rather than individual effort and talent. In addition, rising economic inequality over the past several decades means that the consequences of stalled or falling economic mobility have gotten worse. Equitable Growth seeks to understand how today’s inequalities could be foreclosing equality of opportunity for future generations.
Featured work
Equitable Growth hosts Econ 101 virtual event on how U.S. social insurance programs boost economic mobility
December 1, 2025
December 1, 2025
Factsheet: U.S. economic mobility and policies to increase upward mobility
June 17, 2025
June 17, 2025
Changing Opportunity: Sociological Mechanisms Underlying Growing Class Gaps and Shrinking Race Gaps in Economic Mobility
October 9, 2025
October 9, 2025
Race and the lack of intergenerational economic mobility in the United States
February 18, 2020
February 18, 2020
Explore Content in Economic Mobility428
How combating voter suppression can help close the economic divides between Black and White Americans and spur U.S. economic growth
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The consequences of political inequality and voter suppression for U.S. economic inequality and growth
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Expert Focus: Understanding the economic impacts of climate change
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Boosting wages when U.S. labor markets are not competitive
January 14, 2021
January 14, 2021
U.S. labor markets require a new approach to higher education
January 14, 2021
January 14, 2021
In the United States, it’s not what you know but who your parents know
December 4, 2020
December 4, 2020
The Intergenerational Transmission of Employers and the Earnings of Young Workers
November 5, 2020
November 5, 2020
Equitable Growth’s Household Pulse graphs: September 30–October 12
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