Mobility Inequality in the United States 1 download slides at: - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

download slides at: www.inequality.com/slides Mobility Inequality in the United States 1

download slides at: www.inequality.com/slides Mobility Children’s Mobility Linked to Parent’s Income This figure shows the adult incomes of % of Children in Each Income Quintile As Adults 6% children with parents in the bottom, middle, 19% 11% and top income quintiles. There’s a lot of 39% mobility among kids born in the middle of 19% the income distribution—roughly a fifth of 17% those kids end up in each of the five quintiles as adults. However, there’s much Top quintile 23% 23% Fourth quintile more mobility “stickiness” at the top and 23% Middle quintile bottom of the income distribution, with Second quintile 42% of kids born into the bottom income Bottom quintile 14% quintile remaining there as adults, and 39% 24% of kids born into the top quintile remaining 42% 15% there as adults. 17% 9% Source:: This is a modified version of Figure 4 in Isaacs, Julia B. 2008. “Economic Bottom Middle Top Mobility of Families Across Generations.” Getting Ahead or Losing Ground: Economic Mobility in America. Economic Mobility Project, http:// Parents’ Income Quintile www.economicmobility.org/reports_and_research/mobility_in_america. Data: Panel Study of Income Dynamics , a nationally representative sample of families tracked since 1968. Inequality in the United States 2

download slides at: www.inequality.com/slides Mobility Upward Mobility Low Among African Americans This figure shows differences in social % of Children in Each Income Quintile As Adults 4% 8% mobility between white and black 11% 9% children. Among children born to 26% 12% 13% parents in the bottom income 22% quintile, over half of black children 25% remain there as adults while only 22% 31% of white children remain there. 33% Top quintile 21% White children also do better at the Fourth quintile Middle quintile top of the income distribution. More 24% Second quintile than half of white children born into Bottom quintile 19% the fourth quintile stay in the top two 53% 40% quintiles as adults, compared to only about a third of black children born in 31% 14% the fourth quintile. 8% 6% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Source:: This is a modified version of Figure 6 in Isaacs, Julia B. 2008. White White Black Black “Economic Mobility of Families Across Generations.” Getting Ahead or Losing Ground: Economic Mobility in America. Economic Mobility Born in Born in Project, http://www.economicmobility.org/reports_and_research/ mobility_in_america. Data: Panel Study of Income Dynamics , a Bottom Quintile Forth Quintile nationally representative sample of families tracked since 1968. Inequality in the United States 3

download slides at: www.inequality.com/slides Mobility Social Mobility in Other Countries Compared to the United States This figure shows how rates of mobility 4.0 in the United States compare to rates in Mobility Rate as a Ratio of the U.S. Rate comparable nations. Despite its reputation as the “land of opportunity,” 3.0 researchers who study mobility have consistently found that there is less mobility in the United States than in most other European and English- 2.0 speaking countries. Among the nine countries shown here, all but one have more mobility than the U.S., and four 1.0 have more than twice as much mobility. Source: This is a modified version of Figure 3 in Sawhill, Isabel and John 0 E. Morton. 2007. “Economic Mobility: Is the American Dream Alive and y y K e k n S a d n a c r e U d U Well?” Economic Mobility Project, http://www.economicmobility.org/ n a w a n d a a m m a n r e reports_and_research/mobility_in_america. Data: Corak, Miles. 2006. l r n o r w a n F i e C N “Do Poor Children Become Poor Adults? Lessons from a Cross F e S G D Country Comparison of Generational Earnings Mobility.” Research on Economic Inequality 13:143-188. Inequality in the United States 4

download slides at: www.inequality.com/slides Mobility Social Mobility in the 1970’s, 1980’s, & 1990’s This figure shows the trend in 100% s social mobility from the 1970s t 9% 10% l 13% u d to the 1990s. As this chart A s shows, the adult income a 38% 38% 39% 21% 20% e 21% l 75% i destinations of children born t r a u into the bottom and top Q quartiles have remained e Top quartile m 30% 30% 26% remarkably stable, despite the o Third quartile 50% c 29% 30% n 29% Second quartile income distribution of I h Bottom quartile c Americans becoming more a E n unequal during those decades. i n 25% 20% 21% e 20% 41% 40% 39% r d l i h C 12% Source: This figure is created using table 3.4 (page 123) 12% 12% f o of Harding, David J., Christopher Jencks, Leonard M. 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% % Lopoo, and Susan E. Mayer. 2005. “The changing effect of family background on the incomes of American adults.” 1970s 1980s 1990s 1970s 1980s 1990s Pages 100-144 in Unequal Changes: Family Background Born in Born in and Economic Success, edited by Samuel Bowles, Bottom Quartile Top Quartile Herbert Gintis, and Melissa Osborne Groves. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. Data: General Social Survey. Inequality in the United States 5

Inequality in the United States Contributors Kendra Bischoff Education kendrab1 @ stanford.edu Anmol Chaddha Debt achaddha @ fas.harvard.edu Erin Cumberworth Mobility ecumberw @ stanford.edu Sharon Jank Gender sjank @ stanford.edu Carly Knight Politics crknight @ fas.harvard.edu Bridget Lavelle Health blavelle @ umich.edu Krystale Littlejohn Race & Ethnicity klittlej @ stanford.edu Lindsay Owens Wealth lowens @ stanford.edu David Pedulla Employment dpedulla @ princeton.edu Kristin Perkins Poverty kperkins @ fas.harvard.edu Sharon Jank Income sjank @ stanford.edu Ariela Schachter Immigration arielas1 @ stanford.edu Jordan Segall Violent Crime jsegall @ stanford.edu Chris Wimer Family cwimer @ stanford.edu download slides at: www.inequality.com/slides download slides at: www.inequality.com/slides