Better off French?

If the discussion is about material well-being, the United States is difficult to match | Timothy Lamer

The American Dream is mostly just a popular fantasy, according to a provocative study published late last month by the liberal Center for American Progress (CAP). The study found that very few poor and middle-income American children advance into the ranks of the super-rich when they become adults.

Specifically, the study looked at about 4,000 Americans who were children during 1968-72 and adults about 30 years later. It found that children in low-income families only had a 1 percent likelihood of being among the top 5 percent of income earners as adults, while children in rich families had a 22 percent likelihood. Children in the middle quintile had a 1.8 percent likelihood.

Study author Tom Hertz notes that the odds were better for poor children in Europe: "Intergenerational mobility in the United States is lower than in France, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Norway and Denmark."