This has been a recurring conversation of a group of us. Our feeling is that the answer to the question is 'no'. We answer 'no' not because we are wealthy. We answer 'no' because opportunities seem fewer for our kids. For example, take one piece of the American dream - buying a house. Our first house cost $16,500. I was making $12,000 or so, or three-fourth of the cost of the house. Now, houses in that area (Greater Boston) go for at least $200,000. How many of our kids are making $150,000 a year?
The Pew Charitable Trust has embarked on a study of just what is happening to the American dream as measured by economic mobility. Their introductory report suggests that mobility ain't what it used to be. Of course, income inequality has mushroomed; from 1979 to 2004, the after-tax income of the poor dropped 9%, that of the wealthy jumped 69% and the super-rich took in 176% more.
Things don't look that great when you compare the salaries of fathers and sons. Sons in Germany, Canada and the Scandinavian countries all earn substantially more than the fathers; that is not true here and in England.
Nor are they much better looking at the salaries of fathers and sons when they were both 30 years old. Sons average 12% less than their fathers' salaries at the same age.
This will be a very interesting study.
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