From Brookings' new report, Is The American Dream Alive and Well?
Our absolute mobility is low, too:
Household incomes are still increasing, as ever more women enter the workforce and families put ever more hours into their jobs. But the trends are poor, and the social mobility data is striking. But can it really be a surprise given the way income is being distributed? Look at the graph below, then explain why you'd expect this society to demonstrate any mobility at all:
There's mobility, to be sure, but it's mainly the rich proving themselves ever more capable of upward movement.
Update: It occurs to me that the main news in this report is that Brookings and Pew are finally arriving at -- or at least emphasizing -- conclusions EPI and CEPR have been highlighting for years. I'm glad to see this filter into the mainstream, but if the relevant funders could have put the money into publicizing and distributing The State of Working America, we'd all be in better shape.
