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 Mobility422
Extended-Family Wealth, Race, and the Transition to Homeownership
August 27, 2021
August 27, 2021
Public Investment, Manufacturing Work Opportunity, and Upward Mobility in Midcentury America: Evidence from World War II
August 27, 2021
August 27, 2021
Who Weathers the Storm? The Unequal Effects of Hurricanes in the United States
August 27, 2021
August 27, 2021
Finding Work with Carceral Credentials: Peril and Paradox
August 27, 2021
August 27, 2021
Which Policies are Effective at Reducing Racial Differences in the Intergenerational Transmission of Poverty?
August 27, 2021
August 27, 2021
American Sociological Association 2021 conference centered on inequality and structural racism in the U.S. economy and society
August 19, 2021
August 19, 2021
NBER Summer Institute 2021 Round-up: Week 3
August 2, 2021
August 2, 2021
NBER Summer Institute 2021 Round-up: Week 2
July 26, 2021
July 26, 2021
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