== Aktuel status ==
=== Sammenlignende opadgående mobilitet ===
Aktuel forskning antyder, at USA i forhold til sammenlignelige samfund udviser nogenlunde gennemsnitlige niveauer af opadgående mobilitet på arbejdsmarkedet, og lavere niveauer af indkomstmæssig mobilitet.<ref>Emily Beller and Michael Hout, "Intergenerational Social Mobility: The United States in Comparative Perspective," ''The Future of Children'' (2006) 16#3 s.&nbsp;19–36 [http://www.jstor.org/stable/3844789 in JSTOR] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151011133229/http://www.jstor.org/stable/3844789 |date=11. oktober 2015 }}</ref><ref>Miles Corak, [http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/report/2012/12/05/46851/how-to-slide-down-the-great-gatsby-curve/ "How to Slide Down the 'Great Gatsby Curve': Inequality, Life Chances, and Public Policy in the United States"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311110329/http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/report/2012/12/05/46851/how-to-slide-down-the-great-gatsby-curve/ |date=11. marts 2014 }}, December 2012, [[Center for American Progress]].</ref> Blanden et al. skriver, "ideen om at USA er 'mulighedernes land' lever i bedste velgående; og det virker helt klart malplaceret." ({{lang-en|"the idea of the US as 'the land of opportunity' persists; and clearly seems misplaced."}})<ref name="sutton_trust">{{cite web|url=http://www.ontheside.org/count/LSEreport.pdf|author=Jo Blanden; Paul Gregg and Stephen Machin|title=Intergenerational Mobility in Europe and North America|publisher=[[The Sutton Trust]]|date=april 2005|format=PDF|access-date=7. april 2014|archive-date=20. januar 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120034203/http://www.ontheside.org/count/LSEreport.pdf}}</ref> Ifølge disse undersøgelser har USA "efter international standard" et usædvanligt lavt niveau af mobilitet mellem generationerne: vores forældres indkomst forudsiger med stor sikkerhed vores indtægter som voksne. Mobiliteten mellem generationerne er lavere i USA end i [[Frankrig]], [[Tyskland]], [[Sverige]], [[Canada]], [[Finland]], [[Norge]] og [[Danmark]]. Mellem høj-indtægt lande, hvor der findes sammenlignelige estimater, er det kun [[Storbritannien]], der havde en lavere mobilitet end USA."<ref name=CAP>CAP: ''[http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2006/04/b1579981.html Understanding Mobility in America] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314033050/http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2006/04/b1579981.html |date=14. marts 2012 }}'' - April 26, 2006</ref> "Dette udfordrer opfattelsen af Amerika som mulighedernes land" ("This challenges the notion of America as the land of opportunity").<ref>[http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2007/05useconomics_morton.aspx Economic Mobility: Is the American Dream Alive and Well?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120503130834/http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2007/05useconomics_morton.aspx |date= 3. maj 2012 }} Economic Mobility Project - May 2007</ref><ref>[http://www.oecd.org/document/14/0,3343,en_2649_34325_44575438_1_1_1_1,00.html Obstacles to social mobility weaken equal opportunities and economic growth, says OECD study] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924123637/http://www.oecd.org/document/14/0,3343,en_2649_34325_44575438_1_1_1_1,00.html |date=24. september 2015 }}, [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] (OECD), Economics Department, 10 February 2010.</ref><ref name=DeParle>[http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/us/harder-for-americans-to-rise-from-lower-rungs.html?sq=mobility&st=cse&scp=1&pagewanted=all Harder for Americans to Rise From Lower Rungs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140719191627/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/us/harder-for-americans-to-rise-from-lower-rungs.html?sq=mobility&st=cse&scp=1&pagewanted=all |date=19. juli 2014 }} | By JASON DePARLE | January 4, 2012 ]</ref> Under en [[TED (organisation)|TED]]-konference om de sociale problemer der er forbundne med [[økonomisk ulighed]], sagde forskeren i sociale forhold [[Richard G. Wilkinson]] at, "Hvis amerikanerne ønsker at udleve den amerikanske drøm, så skal de tage til Danmark" ("if Americans want to live the American dream, they should go to Denmark").<ref>Wilkinson, Richard (Oct 2011). [http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_wilkinson.html How economic inequality harms societies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227002700/http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_wilkinson.html |date=27. februar 2014 }}. [[TED (organisation)|TED]] Hentet 7. april 2014.</ref>
Filosofi Politik Samfund