Topic Economic Mobility

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

In Conversation

In Conversation with Miles Corak

Inequality & Mobility
report

U.S. economic mobility trends and outcomes

Inequality & Mobility
post

Wealth as a driver of income and consumption mobility in the United States

Inequality & MobilityFamilies
post

New research suggests that social circles affect upward mobility among U.S. children and young adults

Inequality & Mobility
Vision 2020

Race and the lack of intergenerational economic mobility in the United States

Inequality & MobilityTax & MacroeconomicsLabor
post

Factsheet: What the research says about the economic impacts of reproductive care

Inequality & MobilityFamiliesLabor

Explore Content in Economic Mobility396

grant

Intragenerational income mobility in the United States

Inequality & Mobility
grant

Long-run earnings mobility and earnings inequality: Evidence from SIPP linked administrative earnings data

Inequality & Mobility
post

Does inequality affect high school dropout rates?

Inequality & MobilityFamilies
post

What’s your college degree worth? It may depend on your parents’ income

Inequality & MobilityFamilies
post

How the student debt crisis affects African Americans and Latinos

Tax & MacroeconomicsInequality & MobilityFamiliesLabor
report

What do trends in economic inequality imply for innovation and entrepreneurship?

Inequality & Mobility
post

What about commuting to new economic opportunities?

Inequality & Mobility
post

The importance of where you live for U.S. economic mobility

Inequality & MobilityFamilies
post

Today’s big U.S. economic trade-off isn’t equality or efficiency

Inequality & Mobility
post

The economic and fiscal consequences of improving U.S. educational outcomes

Inequality & MobilityFamilies
post

Patterns of economic mobility in the United States

Inequality & Mobility
post

Marriage promotion isn’t the only solution to America’s mobility problem

Inequality & Mobility
Connect with us!

Explore the Equitable Growth network of experts around the country and get answers to today's most pressing questions!

Get in Touch