January 6, 2012

Benjamin Franklin did it. Henry Ford did it. Even Bill Clinton did it. American life has been built on the faith that anyone can rise from humble origins to economic heights. At least that’s the dream we’ve all been sold. However, much current research concludes that Americans enjoy less economic mobility than their peers in Canada and much of Western Europe. At least five large studies in recent years have found the United States to be less mobile than comparable nations. A project led by Markus Jantti, an economist at Stockholm University, found that 42 percent of American men raised in the bottom fifth of incomes stay there as adults. That shows a level of persistent disadvantage much higher than in Denmark (25 percent) and Britain (30 percent) — a country famous for its class constraints. Meanwhile, just 8 percent of American men at the bottom rose to the top fifth. That compares with 12 percent of the British and 14 percent of the Danes. Despite frequent references to the United States as a classless society, about 62 percent of Americans (male and female) raised in the top fifth of incomes stay in the top two-fifths, according to research by the Economic Mobility Project of the Pew Charitable Trusts. Similarly, 65 percent born in the bottom fifth stay in the bottom two-fifths. By emphasizing the influence of family background, the studies not only challenge American identity but speak to the debate about inequality. While liberals often complain that the United States has unusually large income gaps, many conservatives have argued that the system is fair because mobility is especially high, too: everyone can climb the ladder. Now even conservatives recognize the lack of upward mobility. Former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, a Republican candidate for president, warned this fall that movement “up into the middle income is actually greater, the mobility in Europe, than it is in America.” Nice sentence, Rick. National Review, a deeply conservative magazine, wrote that “most Western European and English-speaking nations have higher rates of mobility” than the United States. Even Representative Paul D. Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican who blusters that overall mobility remains high, recently admitted that “mobility from the very bottom up” is “where the United States lags behind.” Liberal commentators have long emphasized class, but the awareness of conservatives is new. “It’s becoming conventional wisdom that the U.S. does not have as much mobility as most other advanced countries,” said Isabel V. Sawhill, an economist at the Brookings Institution. “I don’t think you’ll find too many people who will argue with that.” One reason for the mobility gap may be the depth of American poverty, which leaves poor children starting especially far behind. So, don’t believe the hype: current evidence suggests that America is not only less equal, but also less mobile.