Essays on Economic Mobility and Inequality in the United States

Abstract

How does economic mobility over the individual life course shape population-level trends in economic inequality, and, in turn, how does this inequality influence individuals' economic mobility prospects? Historically, allowing opportunities for economic mobility has been seen as an American alternative to equalizing incomes. However, after decades of rising inequality across the population and persistent disparity between racial groups, many academics and policymakers have come to question how neatly we can separate the two.