Pathways to the Middle Class: Balancing Personal and Public Responsibilities

Debate focusing on the American Dream has been ubiquitous of late, with some arguing that effort and talent are the primary causes of success and others arguing that government can help open greater opportunities for those with modest beginnings. But who actually achieves the dream and joins the middle class? How much are children’s chances of achieving success affected by the circumstances of their birth, by race and gender, and by how well they do at each life stage from birth to age 40? And how can we help more children navigate the path to a successful adulthood?

On September 20, the 
Social Genome Project
at Brookings presented 
new research
on how many of today’s children are likely to succeed, who they are, how success at one stage affects success in subsequent stages of life, and what might help keep more children on track. Keynote speaker Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado and a panel of experts reacted to these findings.

You can follow the conversation on this event on Twitter using the hashtag
#PathToSuccess
.

Pathways to the Middle Class – Related Materials (PDF):

• Download the paper by Isabel Sawhill, Scott Winship and Kerry Grannis
• Read an executive summary
• See Isabel Sawhill’s presentation slides