What’s going on?

Economic mobility in the United States—defined by Economist Raj Chetty’s metric of how likely a child is to earn more than their parents —has declined sharply in just one generation. In the past, the American Dream was within reach: roughly 90% of kids born in 1940 ended up earning more than their parents. However, the decline has been sharp in just one generation: For kids born in the 1980s, less than 50% will grow up to earn more than their parents.

Why Is This Happening?

While the mid-20th century saw broad-based growth and opportunity, increasing inequality, job market shifts, and declining public investment have made it significantly harder for children born after the 1980s to surpass their parents’ economic standing:

1. Wage Stagnation for Low and Middle Income (LMI) Americans

While the top 10% of earners have seen significant income growth, wages for the bottom 50% have largely stagnated since the 1970s. As a result, it's harder for lower-income families to build wealth or give their kids a leg up.

2. Loss of Middle-Class Jobs

In past decades, factory jobs provided stable careers without a college degree. But automation and globalization shrank those jobs, unions weakened, and today our jobs economy is a lot more bifurcated into low-wage and high-wage jobs, with a far few “middle-wage jobs”, meaning the ability to climb up from low-wage to high-wage is like a ladder with a bunch of missing rungs in the middle.

3. College is More Important—and More Expensive

Higher education is now essential for most good-paying jobs, but its cost has skyrocketed. Many families can’t afford it, or students graduate with debt and limited prospects.

4. Where You Grow Up Matters

Where a child lives—down to the zip code—can shape their future. Poor neighborhoods often have struggling schools, fewer job opportunities, and less community support.

5. Family Changes

Children in two-parent households generally have more financial and emotional support. With significantly more families today headed by a single parent than just one generation ago, some kids face greater challenges.

6. Weaker Social Networks

In past generations, strong community ties—churches, clubs, neighbors—helped people connect to jobs and mentors. Those ties have faded in many places, especially in low-income communities.

7. Less Support from Government

Government investment in programs like affordable housing, early childhood education, and college access has declined. That’s made it tougher for lower-income families to move up.

Why This Matters

When fewer Americans can climb the economic ladder, it affects everyone. Restoring US economic mobility is the north star goal of the Goodman Family Foundation’s work, due to important underpinnings this has on so many aspects of the United States:

It Keeps the American Dream Alive: Economic mobility is at the heart of the American promise—that anyone, regardless of where they start, can succeed through hard work and talent. When mobility declines, that promise starts to feel hollow, fueling frustration and mistrust in institutions.

It Strengthens the Economy: When more people can move up the ladder, they contribute more—through spending, investing, and innovation. A mobile society taps into a broader pool of talent and ideas, which drives stronger and more inclusive economic growth.

It Breaks the Cycle of Poverty: When children from low-income families have a real shot at success, it disrupts the cycle of generational poverty. That reduces the long-term need for public assistance and creates more stable, thriving communities.

It Reflects a Just Society: High economic mobility signals that a society values fairness, access, and equal opportunity—not just for a privileged few, but for everyone. This reduces social divides, political strain, and strengthens democracy and community cohesion.

What do we fund?

We provide philanthropic funding centered around two of the key drivers of US economic mobility that have a strong evidence base and have a high potential for enhancing US economic mobility at scale:

• Wage-building initiatives: We fund the design, pilot, scale, and efficacy research for career education and training programs and policies that lead to family-sustaining wages and cultivate career pathways and wage growth over time.

• Wealth-building initiatives: We fund new and innovative tools, policies, and ideas that enable more low and middle income Americans to participate in asset-building as a mechanisms for sustained, intergenerational economic mobility.

Please see our Portfolio page for more information about our recent grants.