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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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- Issue Brief
- Economic Mobility Project
When Baby Boomers Delay Retirement, Do Younger Workers Suffer?
The notion that younger and older workers are engaged in a zero-sum game for a fixed number of jobs is called the “lump-of-labor” theory. This issue brief explores whether this theory has held true, and presents a series of key findings.
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- Media Coverage
- Economic Mobility Project
America Losing Sight of the Future
A recent analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts concluded that “Americans raised at the top and bottom of the income ladder are likely to remain there themselves as adults.” The study found that two-thirds of Americans end up in the exact same quintile of the income distribution as their parents, or below it. more
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- Media Coverage
- Economic Mobility Project
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.
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- Project Update
- Economic Mobility Project
Supporting the American Dream through Economic Mobility
As both Republicans and Democrats plan their conventions and their policy platforms, the strength of the American Dream is of even greater concern than usual. Pew’s work on economic mobility is of particular relevance to these discussions.
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- Media Coverage
- Economic Mobility Project
Washington Post: Five Myths About the Middle Class
Both President Obama and Mitt Romney say they’ll support it. Many Americans say they’re in it. And virtually everyone says something must be done to help it. It’s the American middle class, and it’s the biggest talking point of the 2012 election—and one of the most misunderstood.more -
- Press Release
- Economic Mobility Project
Bipartisan Economic Mobility Caucus Launched by U.S. Senators Wyden (D-OR) and Moran (R-KS)
On July 25, Pew's Economic Mobility Project (EMP) joined United States Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) to formally launch the Economic Mobility Caucus—a forum for discussion about the facts and drivers of economic mobility in America. more
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- Media Coverage
- Economic Mobility Project
Deseret News – Moving on Up: Can the American Dream Still Become a Reality Today?
For some Americans, that dawn never comes. A new study just released by Pew Charitable Trusts' Economic Mobility Project finds that 43 percent of the people raised at the bottom fifth (households making less than $28,900 a year), stay at the bottom. Seventy percent of those raised at the bottom make less than $44,000 a year. A measly four percent struggle their way from the bottom up to the top fifth of earners in America.
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- Media Coverage
- Economic Mobility Project
Five Facts About Achieving the American Dream
Before we get to our list of facts, I want to tell you about a dark and dingy room in the basement of the Institute for Social Research building at the University of Michigan
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- Media Coverage
- Economic Mobility Project
Opinion: America's Mobility Scorecard
In America, we believe that anyone can grow up to be anything. One litmus test for how well America works is whether they rise above their parents economically. more
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- Media Coverage
- Economic Mobility Project
Opinion: Romney Can Gain Upper Hand on Economic Policy by Focusing on Class
On economic policy, Barack Obama has left Mitt Romney an opening. The president has responded to a severe, continuing labor market slump with a four-year-old, marginally counterproductive tax increase proposal. more
