Download the Key Findings Fact Sheet here.
The assumption that anyone can get ahead based on capability and effort is central to the idea of the American Dream. This report provides an overview of the factors that seem to most affect the likelihood that someone will move up, or down, the economic ladder in the United States. It builds on other reports of the Economic Mobility Project that have identified significant patterns of mobility and that some Americans are less mobile and even more downwardly mobile than others.
This report, written by scholars from the Heritage Foundation, presents the primary indicators that influences one's path to economic mobility and classifies them into three distinct categories: social capital, human capital and financial capital. While a broader set of indicators is identified, the report finds that educational attainment, family structure and savings are the strongest determinants of whether Americans move up or down the economic ladder.
(JULY 2008)
