eCoNomiC mobility:
Is the American Dream
Alive and Well?
acknowlEdgEmEnts
about thE Economic mobility ProjEct
With the convergence of a presidential election cycle, income inequalities last seen nearly a century ago,
and emerging new data on the state of mobility in America, the present moment provides a unique
opportunity to refocus attention and debate on the question of economic mobility and the American Dream.
This report is a product of the Economic Mobility Project.
The primary authors of the report were Isabel Sawhill,
Ph.D., Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution, and
John E. Morton, Director of the Economic Mobility
Project at The Pew Charitable Trusts.
Extensive research support was provided by a team of
Brookings Institution scholars led by Julia Isaacs. Other
contributors at Brookings included Ron Haskins, Jeff
Tebbs and Emily Roessel. Additional research and
editing was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts
staff members Scott Scrivner, Ianna Kachoris, Mona
Miller, Jeremy Ratner and Jessica Arnett.
All Economic Mobility Project materials are reviewed by
members of the Principals’ Group, and guided with input
of the project’s Advisory Board (see back cover). The views
expressed in this report represent those of the authors and
not necessarily of all individuals acknowledged above.
The report was designed by Michael Molanphy of
Varadero Communications, Inc.
The Economic Mobility Project is a unique
nonpartisan collaborative effort of The Pew
Charitable Trusts and respected thinkers from four
leading policy institutes — The American Enterprise
Institute, The Brookings Institution, The Heritage
Foundation and The Urban Institute. While as
individuals they may not necessarily agree on the
solutions or policy prescriptions for action, each
believes that economic mobility plays a central role
in defining the American experience and that more
attention must be paid to understanding the status
and health of the American Dream.
In the months to come, the project will dev