Young people are the future of this nation, and through-out the 20th century there was little doubt that children would grow up to be more prosperous than their parents. Today though, that kind of absolute mobility is less certain. Pressure on young people to compete for limited resources can be intense.
Starting in childhood, we are pressuring parents to spend more time and money educating and enriching their children for "successful" outcomes. Our higher-education system has embraced being a luxury brand where prestigious schools reap benefits by limiting enrollment and raising prices. Upon graduation, many students find their high-interest, government-sponsored student loans are a barrier to engaging in their community, starting families and building wealth.
For those on non-college paths, we have decreased access to meaningful, long-term employment. Low rates of construction have led to less housing availability in large cities and rural areas alike, and, to top it off, uncertainty surrounding our changing climate is ever-present. Opportunity Insights, a non-partisan, research institute based at Harvard University has published research regarding the relative success and social mobility of American children.
In one report, they identified consistent downward trends showing 30-year-olds born in the 1940s were 90% likely to earn more than their parents did at age 30 while 30-year-olds born in the 1980s were only 50% likely to do so. This sample from a prosperous time in our.