Is the American dream dead for young Americans?
Research published by the Equality of Opportunity project suggests that only 50 percent of children born in the 1980s are earning more than their parents. This is down from 90 percent of children born in the 1940s.
There are good arguments that the full picture may not be as bleak as it seems. What we can all agree on, however, is that too many poor children remain poor in adulthood. Nearly half of all parents in the bottom quintile of family income have children that have family income in the bottom quintile during adulthood.
What explains this lack of upward mobility for America’s poor? There are a number of possible explanations such as a lack of access to education or a side effect of growing up in a poor neighborhood.
Are there other possible explanations? I don’t think enough consideration has been given to the role of the growth of occupational licensing laws.
Continue reading at The Hill.
Edward Timmons, PhD, is a senior fellow at the Archbridge Institute and a service associate professor of economics and director of the Knee Regulatory Research Center at the John Chambers School of Business and Economics at West Virginia University. He is regularly asked to provide expert testimony in state legislatures across the US on occupational licensing reform and the practice authority of nurse practitioners. His work is heavily cited by the popular press, and he has authored numerous articles for media publications.
Economics of Flourishing
Is the American dream dead for young Americans?
Research published by the Equality of Opportunity project suggests that only 50 percent of children born in the 1980s are earning more than their parents. This is down from 90 percent of children born in the 1940s.
There are good arguments that the full picture may not be as bleak as it seems. What we can all agree on, however, is that too many poor children remain poor in adulthood. Nearly half of all parents in the bottom quintile of family income have children that have family income in the bottom quintile during adulthood.
What explains this lack of upward mobility for America’s poor? There are a number of possible explanations such as a lack of access to education or a side effect of growing up in a poor neighborhood.
Are there other possible explanations? I don’t think enough consideration has been given to the role of the growth of occupational licensing laws.
Continue reading at The Hill.
Edward Timmons
Edward Timmons, PhD, is a senior fellow at the Archbridge Institute and a service associate professor of economics and director of the Knee Regulatory Research Center at the John Chambers School of Business and Economics at West Virginia University. He is regularly asked to provide expert testimony in state legislatures across the US on occupational licensing reform and the practice authority of nurse practitioners. His work is heavily cited by the popular press, and he has authored numerous articles for media publications.
Share:
Related Posts
Hope for Some Sanity on Licensing Reform
Why Classical Liberals Should Be Skeptical Of DOGE
Early Americans Recognized Occupational Licensing Was a Racket