As Chetty states, “Your chance of achieving the American Dream is nearly twice as high in Canada relative to the United States.” The overall results of the study demonstrate that the United States ranks particularly low compared to other developed countries. Chetty explains this measure as a quantifiable articulation of the American Dream: do children born in poverty have the opportunity to make it to the top? Using IRS data for over 40 million children and parents, Chetty’s research seeks to answer the question: Is the United States really the land of opportunity? The research measures mobility based on the odds of a child from the bottom 20% of the income bracket reaching the top 20%. Chetty was awarded a McArthur genius fellowship and is one of the youngest tenured professors at Harvard University.Ĭhetty has been working with economists Nathaniel Hendren, Patrick Kline, and Emmanuel Saez on a project called “ The Equality of Opportunity Project.” The data published last summer in the New York Times demonstrates that economic mobility varies greatly across geographic regions of the United States.
Last month, economist Raj Chetty spoke at HUD on the topic of economic mobility in the United States. Image courtesy of Raj Chetty.ĭoes the neighborhood you grow up in impact your income as an adult? With recent studies showing rising levels of income inequality in the United States, the question of economic mobility has become increasingly more important. Economic Mobility: Measuring the American DreamĮconomic mobility, the opportunity for children born in poverty to achieve the American Dream, varies across the United States.