Mobility and Opportunity

The Heritage Foundation

The Drum Major Institute, August, 2008

John Schmitt, Center for Economic and Policy Research, March 31, 2008

Randy Albelda, the Center for Social Policy at The University of Massachusetts, Boston. Heather Bushey, the Center for Economic and Policy Research, October 2007

John E. Morton, Director, Economic Mobility Project. Isabel V. Sawhill, Senior Fellow, The Cabot Family Chair and Co-Director, Center on Children and Families, May 2007

One of the largest predictors of poverty is growing up poor. This first report of a series explores the concept of economic mobility from one generation to the next and makes the case that America’s declining intergenerational mobility signals a challenge to the idea of America as a land of opportunity.

Marvin Kosters, Ph.D., Resident Scholar, Ron Haskins, Ph.D., Senior Fellow and Co-Director, Center on Children and Families, Isabel Sawhill, Ph.D., Senior Fellow and Co-Director, Center on Children and Families, William Beach, Director, Center for Data Analysis, Stuart Butler, Ph.D., Vice President, Domestic and Economic Policy Studies, Eugene Steuerle, Ph.D., Senior Fellow and Co-Director, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, Sheila Zedlewski, Director, Income and Benefits Policy Center

Isabel V. Sawhill, Future of Children Policy Brief, Fall 2006

One of the most accurate predictors of poverty is one’s family economic status. Isabel Sawhill examines the evidence of intergenerational poverty and emphasizes the role of education in breaking the cycle of poverty from one generation to the next.

Characteristics of Poverty Poverty Measurement Consequences of Poverty Mobility and Opportunity Anti-Poverty Proposals Immigration and Poverty Asset Poverty Place and Poverty