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
Wealth as a driver of income and consumption mobility in the United States
June 7, 2023
June 7, 2023
New research suggests that social circles affect upward mobility among U.S. children and young adults
September 7, 2022
September 7, 2022
Race and the lack of intergenerational economic mobility in the United States
February 18, 2020
February 18, 2020
Factsheet: What the research says about the economic impacts of reproductive care
June 27, 2022
June 27, 2022
Explore Content in Economic Mobility396
Examining the history of the U.S. racial wealth divide shows stagnating progress on closing these disparities
February 24, 2023
February 24, 2023
Beauty products for women of color and femme-identifying people of color perpetuate U.S. health and other socioeconomic inequalities
February 16, 2023
February 16, 2023
Expert Focus: Examining the implications of financial well-being and asset building
January 18, 2023
January 18, 2023
The importance of understanding how job quality affects U.S. workers and the entire economy, and how to boost access to good jobs
December 22, 2022
December 22, 2022
New digital tools demonstrate the promise of measuring well-being in the United States
December 21, 2022
December 21, 2022
How the new Global Repository of Income Dynamics database sheds light on income inequality and economic mobility
December 15, 2022
December 15, 2022
The economic impact of housing insecurity in the United States
December 8, 2022
December 8, 2022
Ahead of the November jobs report, here’s what recent disaggregated data say about the state of the U.S. labor market and economic growth
November 30, 2022
November 30, 2022
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