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National Journal: The American Dream, Downsized

Middle-class Americans are much more concerned about holding onto what they’ve got than in pursuing more. The Pew Economic Mobility project, the Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll, and other studies have arrived at similar conclusions. When Pew asked Americans in 2011 if they preferred financial stability or moving up the income ladder, 85 percent of respondents chose the safer, surer future.

Hard Choices: Navigating the Economic Shock of Unemployment

This report examines how American families cope with unexpected financial setbacks, with a focus on how periods of unemployment affect family economic security and mobility.

Horatio Alger, RIP

There is also growing—though still nascent—evidence that from one American generation to the next, mobility is declining.

Once Upon a Time in America: Rags to Riches Gone

Once upon a time in America, it was expected that most children would surpass their parents on the income ladder. However, a new study released by The Pew Charitable Trusts has found that although most Americans are earning a bit more than their parents, only a meager one-third of the current generation will surpass their parents in wealth and income and climb to a new rung on the economic ladder.

Housing Wealth and Higher Education

This August 2011 report, Housing Wealth and Higher Education: Building a Foundation for Economic Mobility, assessed how changes in housing wealth during the recent boom and bust affected students’ higher education decisions.

Does America Promote Mobility as Well as Other Nations?

This November 2011 fact sheet, Does America Promote Mobility As Well As Other Nations?, previewed selected key findings from a multi-country study of economic mobility.

Downward Mobility From the Middle Class

This 2011 report examines potential factors that cause some Americans who grow up in the middle class to fall down the economic ladder as adults.

Economic Mobility and the American Dream

This video animates the difference between two measurements of economic mobility.

Collateral Costs

Collateral Costs: Incarceration’s Effect on Economic Mobility was a collaborative effort between the Pew Charitable Trusts' Economic Mobility Project and its Public Safety Performance Project (PSPP). The 2010 report examined the impact of incarceration on the economic opportunity and mobility of former inmates and their families.

Family Structure and the Economic Mobility of Children

This report explores the relationship between parental marital status and intergenerational economic mobility. It finds that, across the income distribution, divorce is particularly harmful for children's economic mobility in both absolute and relative terms.

Chasing the Same Dream, Climbing Different Ladders

This 2010 report examined intergenerational economic mobility trends in Canada and the U.S.

A Penny Saved is Mobility Earned

This November 2009 report found that having parents with high savings positively impacts one's upward mobility, particularly for children of low-income parents; having high savings oneself increases the chances of moving up from the bottom of the income ladder.

Renewing the American Dream: A Road Map to Enhancing Economic Mobility in America

Renewing the American Dream included practical recommendations to make the Dream of upward mobility a reality for generations to come, including the need for a “portfolio shift” in the federal government’s priorities.

Neighborhoods and the Black-White Mobility Gap

This 2009 report found that growing up in a high-poverty neighborhood increases the risk of experiencing downward mobility and explains a sizable portion of the black-white downward mobility gap.

Promoting Economic Mobility by Increasing Postsecondary Education

This 2009 report found that many low-income students miss out on college because they don't have good information about how significantly financial aid can reduce the cost of tuition, and the process for obtaining aid is not as straightforward and timely as it could be.

A Detailed Picture of Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital

Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), this 2009 report explored how parental education relates to four separate outcomes in the children’s generation: education, lifetime earnings, health and (financial) wealth. The authors related parents’ educational ranks to children’s ranks on these four outcomes.

Ups and Downs

This June 2009 report assessed the extent to which the American economy promotes upward economic mobility and prevents downward economic mobility. The Economic Mobility Project released a new fact sheet in January 2012 focusing on Americans' prospects for recovery after an income loss. The findings shed light on the impact the Great Recession could have on family incomes and mobility into the future.

Tracking the Recession: Tuition Programs in Danger

As the Obama administration addresses the rising cost of college, many of the prepaid college tuition programs that help keep prices down have been damaged by the weak economy.

Walking to a 'green' school: Impossible new-century dream?

Little Johnny and Jane are back in school - but are we doing our best for him or her? Put aside, for a moment, "No Child Left Behind" teaching issues. Ask instead: How are the kids getting to school? And when they get there, are their school buildings satisfactorily "green" and healthy?

Economic Mobility in America

This 2007 report raised provocative questions about the continuing ability of all Americans to move up the economic ladder and calls into question whether the American economic meritocracy is alive and well.

Report: States Need to Step Up on Higher Ed

States must take the lead in the movement to fix the higher education crisis, a report released Monday by a commission of state legislators said. "Higher education is a national imperative, there's no question about that, but it has been and remains a state responsibility," said Connecticut Rep. Denise Merrill (D).