“The Death of the American Dream?”

Abstract: Whenever an election rolls around, we can count on dire warnings that the American Dream is under threat, that hard work and talent are no longer guarantees of success, and that what now matters most is winning the “birth lottery” and being raised by rich parents.  But are these dire warnings true?  Can a child born into a middle-class family expect to earn much more than a child born into a poor family?  What about a child born into the one percent?  Does that translate into a huge boon to the child’s earnings?  Drawing on new tax-return data, the hard facts about social mobility in the U.S. are presented, with a special focus on differences in the mobility opportunities of boys and girls.
*Co-sponsored with the Dept. of Sociology & Inequality Working Group

If you are interested in meeting with or joining the speaker for lunch, please send email to Seminars AT ccpr.ucla.edu

11:00 am – 11:30 am: Heeju Sohn

12:00 pm – 1:30 pm: Seminar

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm: Proseminar Lunch: Ryan Cho, Dylan Connor, Alexis Cooke, Larissa Dooley, Lei Feng, Ravaris Moore, Lena Riess, Rosanna Smart, Chad Stecher

2:30 pm – 3:00 pm: Prof. Till von Wachter

3:00 pm – 3:30 pm: Prof. Siwei Cheng

4:00 pm – 4:30 pm: Prof. Jennie Brand

4:30 pm – 5:00 pm: Prof. Judith Seltzer