Pew’s financial security and mobility project studies the financial well-being of American families and how their balance sheets relate to both short-term financial stability and longer-term economic mobility. The initiative builds on Pew research that shows savings and assets are key to moving up the economic ladder, both within a lifetime and across generations. The project will next be exploring how family financial decisions, including those related to savings and assets, influence financial security and mobility.
Our Work
View All-
Economic Mobility and the American Dream Where Do We Stand in the Wake of the Great Recession
The Pew Economic Mobility Project conducted an update to its 2009 national poll to reassess the public's perceptions of economic mobility and the American Dream two years later, as the nation emerges from the Great Recession. While pessimism about their own economic circumstances has increased, Americans remain optimistic about the future. They see a role for government to help poor and... Read More
-
Women's Work: The Economic Mobility of Women Across a Generation
This study demonstrates that women's increased labor force participation and earnings have enabled some families to maintain their places on the economic ladder or, particularly among families at the bottom, to move up. But, as was the case for many women in the previous generation, men's earnings continue to matter most for families' income and economic mobility. Read More
-
Spotlight on Poverty: Making Economic Mobility a Priority
Economic opportunity and upward mobility have formed the foundation of the American Dream for centuries and remain at the core of our nation's identity. Yet research shows that the ability to move up the economic ladder from one generation to the next is more limited in the United States than many think. Policy can make a difference. A bipartisan group in Congress wants to make sure it does. Read More