As the great Economic Meltdown boiled over into the fury that was Occupy Wall Street, a foreboding worry began to spread—you could hear the chatter: The American dream is ending. The rich are getting richer, and the poor stay poor.
What most of us really mean when we talk about the American dream really boils down to mobility: anyone can make it here. That’s supposed to be the great promise of America. If you study hard, work hard, and apply yourself, the sky’s the limit.
Since this is how we define the American dream, and since the American dream plays a huge role in not only our own national identity but in our place in the imagination of the whole world, you’d think we’d basically have a monopoly on mobility. Mobility is our thing—our stars practically invented it, like Joe DiMaggio and Elvis. Right?
Not so much.
Turns out, according to the New York Times, class mobility in the United States is now actually lower than it is in most European countries, as well as Canada.
At least five large studies in recent years have found the United States to be less mobile than comparable nations. A project led by Markus Jantti, an economist at a Swedish university, found that 42 percent of American men raised in the bottom fifth of incomes stay there as adults. That shows a level of persistent disadvantage much higher than in Denmark (25 percent) and Britain (30 percent) — a country famous for its class constraints.
Meanwhile, just 8 percent of American men at the bottom rose to the top fifth. That compares with 12 percent of the British and 14 percent of the Danes.
Despite frequent references to the United States as a classless society, about 62 percent of Americans (male and female) raised in the top fifth of incomes stay in the top two-fifths, according to research by the Economic Mobility Project of the Pew Charitable Trusts. Similarly, 65 percent born in the bottom fifth stay in the bottom two-fifths.
The comparisons are similar in Canada. The Times notes, “16 percent of Canadian men raised in the bottom tenth of incomes stayed there as adults, compared with 22 percent of Americans. Similarly, 26 percent of American men raised at the top tenth stayed there, but just 18 percent of Canadians.”
We’ve always justified the ills of our system—not providing health care for our citizens, for instance—by framing our society as a meritocracy: It may not be so great for those at the bottom, but anyone can climb the ranks with a little hard work.
Turns out that’s not true. Not only do Canadians have their health care provided for them, they also have more class mobility. I know, I know, the wealth gathered at the top of Canada isn’t quite as dazzlingly rich as it is here. But if you weren’t born into it here, your chances of getting to the top of that pyramid are about the same as they are of winning the lottery.
It may be time to coin a new phrase: Living the Canadian dream.
