Ten Ways to Boost Social Mobility in the US

“…there is no evidence that people are bothered by economic inequality itself. Rather, they are bothered by something that is often confounded with inequality: economic unfairness.” - Starmans, Sheskin, & Bloom (2017) 

“Inequality alone - that is, controlling for poverty and social mobility - does not appear to a strong, consistent or direct effect on society-wide levels of happiness. And in the US and elsewhere, surveys have consistently found that inequality simply isn’t a pressing issue for most people.” - Exploring the Problem Space/Inequality and Happiness: What's the Connection? September 7, 2020

“Contrary to popular perceptions, populist voters are not uniformly deplorable, stupid and racist; they are deeply motivated by perceptions of a rigged, socially immobile economy. Whether a citizen has an unlucky start in life or is knocked down by an economic crisis, too many Americans cannot get ahead on their own merits. Given the Democrats’ recent drubbing in Virginia, the party would do well to pivot away from condescending culture wars and towards a fairer economy where opportunity is more equal and reward is allocated in line with contribution.” - Eric Protzer/Letter to the Economist December 4, 2021

Be it resolved: social mobility matters way more than income or wealth inequality. So what can government do to increase social mobility in the US? Here are a few ideas*, with links to related posts:

1. Subsidize Childcare for Those in Need

• Subsidizing Childcare, Part I: What is Affordable Childcare and Whose Childcare Should Be Subsidized?

• Subsidizing Childcare, Part II: A Specific Proposal

2. Establish Universal Healthcare System with Serious Cost Controls

• The Bold Centrist, Part VII: How to Pay for Universal Health Care on a Budget

• Medicare-for-All versus Other Universal Healthcare Systems

• How Does Medicare for All Compare with Other Universal Healthcare Options in the US?

3. Facilitate Lifelong Skill Building through an Adult Education Basic Income

• How to Fund an Adult Student Basic Income without Raising Taxes (Very Much)

• Accounting for Inequality: Literacy, Math Skills, and Wages

4. Increase Stock of Affordable Housing

• How to Make Social Housing Work: Ten Tips for Policymakers

• How Much New Social Housing Should the US Build?

• How to House the Chronically Homeless without Breaking the Bank or Encouraging Dependency

5. Improve Public Safety

• False Dichotomy Department: Address Root Cause or Fight Crime?

• How to Reduce Recidivism and Improve Public Safety, Part II: Let Prisoners Earn While They Learn

• Behind the Research: Letting Suspects Go as a Crime-Fighting Tactic

• Imagining a Post-Pandemic Future, Part III: Why We Need Criminal Justice Reform

6. Boost Geographic Mobility

• Neighborhood Matters: Increase Residential Mobility, Decrease Inequality

• Moving is So Hard to Do

7. Support Economic Vitality and Growth

• Ideology and The War on Optimism

• Which is More: What Profit Takes or What Profit Gives Back?

• How Would The Spirit of Innovation Be Kept Alive under Democratic Socialism?

• Is Capitalism As Bad As They Say It Is? Part III: Cost of Living

• Is Capitalism As Bad As They Say It Is? Part II: Wages

• Is Capitalism As Bad As They Say It Is? Part I: Introduction 

8. Pursue Sound Tax Policy

• How the Most Progressive Countries Fund Their Welfare States, Part II: Just About Everyone Helps Out

• How The Most Progressive Countries Fund Their Welfare States, Part I: Top Tax Rates and Who Pays Them

• The Bold Centrist, Part V: How to Design a Tax System

• Comparison of US and Nordic Tax Systems in Two Charts and Two Tables

9. Eliminate Chronic Poverty

• Who's Poor in America and What That Tells Us about How to Reduce Poverty

• How to Reform The US Minimum Wage

• Would Inequality Still Be A Problem if The US Successfully Tackled Poverty and Declining Social Mobility?

10. Practice Good Governance

• How Bad Government and Economic Systems Undermine Personal Initiative and the Pursuit of Happiness

• The Bold Centrist: A Responsible Budget for Fixing This Country

• The Bold Centrist, Part IV: How to Do Policy the Right Way 

• A Tale of Governance and Politics: Homelessness Trends in Texas and California

• Ten Ways to Increase Trust in Government

• The Bold Centrist, Part III: What Does It Mean to Govern Responsibly?

• The Bold Centrist, Part I: What's the Job of Government? 

• Linking Good Governance to Happiness and Life Satisfaction 

• Designing a Society for Human Flourishing: A Framework

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* This list addresses direct and indirect challenges to social mobility. For instance, physical well-being and residential stability are conducive to learning, skill development and staying employed. Plus, sound tax policy and good governance are necessary for financing, developing and maintaining effective safety net programs.

Recommended Reading

Chetty, R. and Hendren, N.  The Impacts of Neighborhoods on Intergenerational Mobility II: County-Level Estimates, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 133, Issue 3, August 2018, Pages 1163–1228, https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjy006 

Debove S, Baumard N, André J-B (2017) On the evolutionary origins of equity. PLoS ONE 12(3): e0173636. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0173636  

Manduca, R. and R. J. Sampson (2019). "Punishing and toxic neighborhood environments independently predict the intergenerational social mobility of black and white children." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116(16): 7772-7777. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1820464116 

Protzer, Eric S. M. “Social Mobility Explains Populism, Not Inequality or Culture.” CID Research Fellow and Graduate Student Working Paper Series 2021.118, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, September 2019. Revised May 2021 https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37366842 

Starmans, C., Sheskin, M. & Bloom, P. Why people prefer unequal societies. Nat Hum Behav 1, 0082 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-017-0082