Americans have long believed that those who work hard can achieve success and that each generation will be better off than the last one. This belief has made Americans more tolerant of growing inequality than the citizens of other advanced nations. But how much opportunity to get ahead actually exists in America? In this new volume, Brookings scholars Julia Isaacs, Isabel Sawhill and Ron Haskins summarize research and provide new evidence on both the extent of intergenerational mobility in the United States and the factors that influence it.
Chapters
Foreword
By Strobe Talbott and Rebecca W. Rimel
Overview
By Isabel V. Sawhill
I Economic Mobility of Families Across Generations
By Julia B. Isaacs
II Trends in Intergenerational Mobility
By Isabel V. Sawhill
III International Comparisons of Economic Mobility
By Julia B. Isaacs
IV Wealth and Economic Mobility
By Ron Haskins
V Economic Mobility of Men and Women
By Julia B. Isaacs
VI Economic Mobility of Black and White Families
By Julia B. Isaacs
VII Immigration: Wages, Education, and Mobility
By Ron Haskins
VIII Education and Economic Mobility
By Ron Haskins
