Assess The Importance Of Economic Mobility In The United States

Economic Mobility in America

Economic mobility is the ability of people to move up or down the economic ladder within a lifetime or from one generation to the next. It is what defines the American dream and allows us to think that we all have a chance of making it to the top. The American dream is to be successful and make a lot of money. Each generation is expected to earn more money than the previous generation. But this isn’t always true because the quintile you are born in to is, most likely, the quintile you will stay in. It is important to have economic mobility so our economy can grow and thrive. There are two types of economic mobility, absolute mobility and relative mobility. Absolute mobility involves widespread economic growth which everyone benefits from while
When the economy is growing quickly, it is easier to move up the ladder because the incomes are much more equal. The average American assumes that there is a high degree of economic mobility in our society and they accept it as a fact and rarely think about it. Little do they know that there is a relatively low degree of economic mobility, making it difficult to move up the economic ladder. There are many factors that can affect one’s economic mobility. Some include the income of the previous generation, gender, race, education, and marital status. If your parents are in the middle class, it is very likely that you will be in the middle class as well. There is a relatively low chance that you will slip down to the lower class or climb up to the upper class. Although you may make more than your parents did, you will most likely be in the same quintile and class. Gender also plays a role in economic mobility. Men tend to make more than women because they tend to have the higher positions. More recently though, women have been earning more of these high paying jobs over men. There has been somewhat