The American Dream is Now a Coin Flip: Here's Why and What We Can Do (#287)
2/3/202624 min
The American Dream promises that hard work leads to a better life. But for many children today, that promise depends less on effort and more on where they grow up.
Raj Chetty, a Harvard professor and the founder of Opportunity Insights, has spent years following millions of lives to understand what truly drives economic mobility. His findings challenge long-held assumptions about opportunity in America.
If the American Dream has started to feel like a coin flip, what’s quietly shaping the odds? And what would it take to give more children a real chance to get ahead?
In this conversation, we explore why neighborhoods matter more than we think and how expanding opportunity could strengthen not just individual lives, but the country as a whole.
See his new paper Creating High Opportunity Neighborhoods.
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First 90 secondsLynn Thoman· Host0:00
[chime] The American Dream says if you work hard, you'll get ahead. Now, new data lets us follow lives over decades and see what actually makes a difference. For generations, parents have believed that if their kids work hard, they'll get ahead. But when you look at what really happens over time, the picture isn't so simple. So what really helps kids succeed? [music] Hi, everyone. I'm Lynn Thoman, and this is Three Takeaways. On Three Takeaways, I talk with some of the world's best thinkers, business leaders, writers, politicians, newsmakers, and scientists. Each episode ends with three key takeaways to help us understand the world, and maybe even ourselves, a little better. Today, I am really glad to be joined by Raj Chetty. Raj is a Harvard professor who studies opportunity in America. He and his team at Opportunity Insights follow people's lives over time to see what truly helps kids get ahead. Their findings are being used by more than two hundred cities in over forty states to improve outcomes for lower-income families and children. He's just completed a major new study on what it really takes to create high-opportunity