Intergenerational Inequality
How advantages and disadvantages pass from parents to children, and why the 'American Dream' of upward mobility is increasingly elusive.
The Great Gatsby Curve
Economist Miles Corak documented a striking relationship: countries with higher inequality also have lower social mobility. This 'Great Gatsby Curve' shows that the United States, with high inequality, has lower intergenerational mobility than Scandinavian countries. A child born poor in Denmark is significantly more likely to reach the middle class than a child born poor in America.
The mechanisms are straightforward. High inequality means larger gaps between the resources available to rich and poor families. Rich parents invest more in education, health, and social networks for their children. Poor parents face constraints that limit their children's opportunities regardless of talent or effort. When the rungs of the economic ladder are far apart, climbing them requires more than just merit.