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The most current version of the American Dream is that of 'upward mobility'... always room at the top, each generation doing better than the one before it.
Unfortunately, it is not true and never really has been. The supposed phenomenon has been reported on many times but manages to persist against all evidence to the contrary.The rich stay rich, the poor stay poor and those in the middle move very little. What movement does occur may go in either direction. The Center For American Progress provided a nice summary of the facts a few years ago:
and we are spending more and more to stay the same. 30 years ago, you could start a fine career with a HS diploma... not even a B.A. might lead to McDonalds.
wealth disparity is a defining aspect of unrestrained capitalism. Note the "socialist" nations that exceed our own mobility.
geo.
Unfortunately, it is not true and never really has been. The supposed phenomenon has been reported on many times but manages to persist against all evidence to the contrary.The rich stay rich, the poor stay poor and those in the middle move very little. What movement does occur may go in either direction. The Center For American Progress provided a nice summary of the facts a few years ago:
- Understanding Mobility in America, Tom Hertz, American UniversityChildren from low-income families have only a 1 percent chance of reaching the top 5 percent of the income distribution, versus children of the rich who have about a 22 percent chance.
Children born to the middle quintile of parental family income had about the same chance of ending up in a lower quintile than their parents as they did of moving to a higher quintile . Their chances of attaining the top five percentiles of the income distribution were just 1.8 percent.
African American children who are born in the bottom quartile are nearly twice as likely to remain there as adults than are white children whose parents had identical incomes, and are four times less likely to attain the top quartile.
The difference in mobility for blacks and whites persists even after controlling for a host of parental background factors, children’s education and health, as well as whether the household was female-headed or receiving public assistance.
By international standards, the United States has an unusually low level of intergenerational mobility: our parents’ income is highly predictive of our incomes as adults. Intergenerational mobility in the United States is lower than in France, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Norway and Denmark. Among high-income countries for which comparable estimates are available, only the United Kingdom had a lower rate of mobility than the United States.
and we are spending more and more to stay the same. 30 years ago, you could start a fine career with a HS diploma... not even a B.A. might lead to McDonalds.
wealth disparity is a defining aspect of unrestrained capitalism. Note the "socialist" nations that exceed our own mobility.
geo.