Equality of Opportunity & Upward Mobility in America 3

This continues our review of a recent study that will help you improve your income

Robbie grew up happily in a family consisting of his two younger brothers and widowed mother. His father died when Robbie was 6 years of age. They barely knew they were in poverty. His mother worked hard to instill a love of learning and growth. She taught them the essence of the American dream. In addition, Robbie grew up in a strongly religious community of many faiths. Many neighbor families provided additional support, encouragement, and hope. As a result of all this support, Robbie studied hard, earned scholarships for college, and graduated from Chicago Law School. He served as a judge and taught at law school. His brothers also excelled and moved up.

Drawing Some Observations, Not Conclusions

The Harvard Equality of Opportunity Project’s report on Upward  Mobility emphasized they did not imply cause and effect from their study.  They highlight that their findings only identified correlations between cities. So, we restate that our musings today only reflect observations. We do not assume to share conclusions.

Socio-Economic Correlations Related to Upward Mobility

Cities with higher opportunities for upward mobility shared several characteristics. They had:

• Upward mobility appears in cities where upper, middle, and lower classes live together in closer proximity.
• We worry that the shrinking of the middle class and the further polarization of the classes has already reduced environments for further growth and upward mobility. Fewer and fewer neighborhoods share a broad socio-economic foundation.
• The rich continue to put their children in private schools, gated communities and compounds, and more elaborate vacations.

Strong Support Structures Lift Upward

Two other correlations for upward mobility dealt with the religious and strong families. Once again, we do not draw conclusions that religious upbringing or having two parents creates opportunity for upward mobility.

But decreasing family structure and religious commitment or faith reduce this correlative opportunity. Imagine the consequences of losing religious communities or strong families if they discover they do contribute to your upward mobility.

Wednesday we will continue our analysis of Harvard’s study on upward mobility

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