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
Reading Eagle: Report Shows College Education Still Pays Dividends
It seems just about everyone has heard about the plight of recent college graduates who are saddled with heavy debt, unable to find jobs in their chosen fields and stuck living at home with little to do except perhaps some low-paying work. more
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- Media Coverage
- Economic Mobility Project
Seattle Weekly: Don't Brood: It Still Pays to Go to College
The recession and high national unemployment rates make life after college look worse than college itself, often leaving new graduates overqualified and underemployed. more
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- Economic Mobility Project
How Much Protection Does a College Degree Afford?
This report provides an in-depth look at young college graduates’ employment opportunities as compared to less-educated groups. more
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- Economic Mobility Project
Pew Report Finds Recent College Graduates Well-Protected Against Worst Effects of Recession
The newest research from Pew’s Economic Mobility Project reveals that a four-year college degree helped shield the latest graduates from a range of poor employment outcomes during the Great Recession, including unemployment, low-skill jobs, and lesser wages. more
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- Media Coverage
- Economic Mobility Project
Examine Inequality’s Causes Before Prescribing Solutions
Fear and loathing of income inequality is both totally understandable and ultimately misplaced. A June study from Pew’s Economic Mobility Project finds that 84 percent of Americans have “higher family incomes than their parents did.” more
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- Media Coverage
- Economic Mobility Project
BBC: Downward Mobility Haunts US Education
The idea of going to college—and the expectation that the next generation will be better educated and more prosperous than its predecessor—has been hardwired into the ambitions of the middle classes in the United States. more
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- Media Coverage
- Economic Mobility Project
The Atlantic: The Great Recession's Devastating Toll on Disadvantaged Neighborhoods
As we move into a spiky world dominated by cities, the winners and losers are becoming ever clearer. more
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- Media Coverage
- Economic Mobility Project
Bloomberg: Ranks of Poor Americans at Record High Even with Aid
The ranks of poor Americans remained at a record high number last year, even aftergovernment-aid programs such as food stamps, housing vouchers and heating subsidies were included, the U.S. Census Bureau said today. more
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- Economic Mobility Project
Weathering the Great Recession
This issue brief from the Economic Mobility Project explores how residents of high- and low-poverty neighborhoods fared in terms of employment, wages, wealth, and housing losses during the Great Recession.
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- Media Coverage
- Economic Mobility Project
WBEZ: American Dreams
The latest installment of our Front & Center series examines the American dream deferred. We talk about the state of the American dream. What is it? How has the notion of it changed? Does it still exist for most folks? If not, what or who is standing in the way? more
