Eugene Robinson's commentary on the findings of the Economic Mobility Project ("Tattered dream: Who'll tackle the issue of upward mobility?", Nov 27,) provided food for thought.
However, a closer look at the reports issued by this research initiative does not reveal evidence sufficient to support the conclusion there is now less opportunity for upward social mobility in America than there was in the past. In fact, the report contains some encouraging data as well.
As Robinson himself notes, the report states the current generation of adults is better off than the previous one. Further, the authors conclude there is fair mobility across all levels of society and within the middle three-fifths of the study group there was almost "perfect" mobility up and down the ladder.
Even those born into families at the very top of the scale were not guaranteed to remain there. In fact, the study found that 61 percent of those born into families at the top moved downward in the rankings. Unfortunately, those seeking insights from this study into why some individuals are able to move up the scale while others don't will be disappointed. The reports compare income levels between generations within the United States over the past 30 years, but little information is provided to answer the question why changes have or have not taken place.
Moreover, the project's focus on a comparison of income levels of those now in their thirties with their parents' generation at a similar age as the means to measure social and economic mobility within American society fails to take into account changes in the American economy as well as changes in the work force itself. For instance, a 30-year-old school teacher with a graduate degree could well have a lower salary than his/her parent who at the same age was working on the assembly line in a unionized auto plant. Within the parameters of this research project, the teacher would be described as downwardly mobile.
Robinson attaches great significance to the finding that only 6 percent of individuals who started life in families with incomes at the bottom of the scale reached the very top level of all income earners in the United States as proof that "Horatio Alger doesn't live here anymore." In my view, the fact that even 6 percent can go from one extreme to the other by the age of 30-something is remarkable. Beyond this, I would not be surprised if other studies eventually show that individual investments in adult education, changes in career paths or efforts to begin start-up businesses, all more common practices now than in the 1970s, pay dividends in terms of greater income at a slightly later stage in life.
In any case, for the rest of us, "failure" to become among the richest within the richest nation on earth hardly means that we did not have the opportunity to better our individual lots in life. The intent of the Horatio Alger stories was to inspire the poorest youth of the mid-19th century to prepare themselves to take advantages of whatever opportunities came their way as a result of their own honesty, hard work, self-reliance and perseverance. Most of the characters in these stories did not go from "rags to riches" but achieved what we would recognize as middle-class security, stability and a solid reputation. Not a bad goal to shoot for.
Most readers will probably view the question of whether America still offers the opportunity to better oneself through the prism of his or her own life experience. However, one does not have to believe that all barriers to advancement have been eliminated in order to recognize that more opportunities and tools are available to a wider range of the population than was the case 30 years ago. The near future will bring more positive changes of this nature. The media are now beginning to focus on the fact that the retirement of the baby-boomer generation will have a severe, negative impact on the Social Security and Medicare programs.
On a more positive note, I would also offer for consideration the probability that the coming exodus of the baby-boomer generation from a work force that supports the largest economy in the world will open up even greater advancement opportunities to the following generations. The key question is: Will the following generations be prepared to take full advantage of the opportunities that will present themselves? Parents, teachers and community leaders should be telling children the opportunities for a productive life will be there and they are being counted upon to do their part to be prepared. This is a message of hope and empowerment.
Finally, while doing a Google search on Horatio Alger, I came across the Web site for the Horatio Alger Association. According to this Web site, the association was created in 1947 to honor the achievements of outstanding Americans who succeeded in spite of adversity and to encourage young people to pursue their dreams through higher education. Members of the association include Oprah Winfrey and Colin Powell, both of whom have undertaken projects to help young people achieve their dreams. The Website of America's Promise, an initiative undertaken by Powell, will be of more interest than the reports of the Economic Mobility Project to those who are interested in s.jpg that can be taken to prepare coming generations to take full advantage of the freedoms and opportunities offered in America.
-- Ronald Shattuck, Bamberg