Pew’s Economic Mobility Project focuses public attention on the ability to move up or down the economic ladder within a lifetime or from one generation to the next. By forging broad, nonpartisan agreement on the facts and drivers of mobility, the project fosters policy debate and action on how best to improve economic opportunity and ensure that the American Dream is kept alive for future generations.
Why Economic Mobility Matters
For more than two centuries, economic opportunity and upward mobility have formed the foundation of the American Dream, and they remain at the core of our nation's identity. As policy makers seek to foster equality of opportunity, it’s critical that their decisions be informed by a robust and nonpartisan fact base on economic mobility.
Factors that Help or Hinder Economic Mobility
Economic mobility is influenced by a variety of factors including education, neighborhoods, savings, and family structure. Pew also strives to understand differences in mobility by income, race, and gender.
How We Conduct Our Work
Pew conducts research on economic mobility to inform policy makers and the public debate. We look at questions such as: How do children's opportunities to achieve the American Dream compare to those of their parents? To what extent is mobility affected by wealth, gender, race, and education? How do people’s mobility prospects differ depending on where they live?
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The LATEST from the Project
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- Media Coverage
- Economic Mobility Project
The Atlantic: How Bad Is the Job Market For College Grads? Your Definitive Guide
Young bachelor's holders are hurting. But they're still doing better than high-school grads, and their crisis has been vastly overstated. more
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- Press Release
- Economic Mobility Project
Pew Explores Damaging Effects of Unemployment & Unexpected Wealth Losses on Mobility and Economic Security
A new study from The Pew Charitable Trusts, Hard Choices: Navigating the Economic Shock of Unemployment, examines how American families cope with unexpected financial setbacks and how those periods of economic uncertainty draw down financial resources. The report studies families across race and income levels, revealing different experiences resulting from unemployment and the difficult choices many of them face. more
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- Report
- Economic Mobility Project
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.
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- Media Coverage
- Economic Mobility Project
Marketplace.org: Recovery From Job Loss: Easier for Whites Than Blacks
A new study out today by the Pew Economic Mobility Project looks at the role race and assets have in people’s ability to weather the economic hardships of sudden unemployment. more
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- Media Coverage
- Economic Mobility Project
NPR: Americans Earn More Than Their Parents (With A Caveat), Study Says
Most Americans are earning more money than their parents, according to a new study from Pew's Economic Mobility Project. But those gains don't tell the whole picture. more
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- Media Coverage
- Economic Mobility Project
Deseret News: Economic Mobility Gains May be Due to Dual-income Families
If parents are happier when their children do better (financially), then there should be a lot of happy parents in the United States. But more American families reach that status today through dual incomes, according to a new report released Tuesday. more
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- Interactive
- Economic Mobility Project
Income and Wealth in America Across Generations
This interactive data tool takes a closer look at absolute mobility, making it possible to determine which Americans are more likely to surpass or fall short of their parents' income and wealth, and for the first time, by how much. more
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- Media Coverage
- Economic Mobility Project
Washington Post: Obama’s Call to Action on Poverty
Some anti-child-poverty advocates are disappointed that President Obama didn’t call for a National Commission on Children as they’d hoped. more
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- Press Release
- Economic Mobility Project,
- Election Initiatives
Pew Experts Respond to President's State of the Union Address
In his 2013 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama raised two issues that are relevant to the work of The Pew Charitable Trusts: economic mobility and elections.
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February 13, 2013
Economic Mobility: Reaction to the State of the Union & GOP Response
Economic mobility is a unifying and bipartisan idea discussed by both President Obama in his State of the Union address and Senator Marco Rubio in the GOP response. Erin Currier discusses drivers, such as education, savings, and neighborhood poverty, that impact people's ability to achieve the American Dream. more
