Watch: A Snapshot of Social Mobility in America

It’s been a little over a year since we published the first Brookings Essay. In that year, its authors have taken readers around the world and back to stimulate debate on the most critical issues of our time.

In the latest Brookings Essay, Economic Studies expert Richard Reeves examines an issue so threatening to the American ethos that President Obama has called it “the defining issue of our time.”

Today, children born into the poorest parts of American society have a slim chance of moving upward. Even worse, their chances are often decreased by a number of factors outside their control, such as race or class.

You can learn more about mobility by reading the latest Brookings Essay by Richard Reeves, Saving Horatio Alger: Equality, Opportunity, and the American Dream. Before you do, watch as Reeves provides a quick snapshot of mobility in today’s America:

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For even more from Brookings on social mobility and inequality, visit the Social Mobility Memos blog for the latest research and commentary from Reeves and his team at the Center on Children and Families at Brookings.