This conference will explore economic mobility as it is influenced by or affects families, communities, and the economy, so let me touch on each of those three facets. We know that families are the locus of both opportunities and barriers to economic mobility. There are important research questions to be tackled here. What individual or family characteristics may predict who will achieve upward mobility?
How much does someone’s initial circumstances in life influence how far that person can get or how hard he or she needs to work to get there? Researchers and policymakers need a better understanding of how much mobility individuals may experience over the course of their lives and at what age people’s outcomes may become more difficult to change.