Social Policy

Income Distribution

REUTERS/Deborah L. Cohen - The home of Edward Zwirner and wife Alison Loeppert in Evanston, Illinois, October 2, 2012.

Blog Post

Does a Strong Middle Class Predict Upward Social Mobility for the Poor?

September 6, 2013, Elisabeth Jacobs

Fulfillment of the American Dream is effected by the relationships between opportunity, low levels of upward social mobility, and high levels of economic inequality. To better understand and untangle these relationships, Elisabeth Jacobs turns attention to a new analysis concluding that the size of a region's middle class is strongly correlated with the probability of upward mobility for a child born poor in that region.

View All Research on Income Distribution ›Show 10 More