Research

We know that children are aware of class, but Jessi Streib at the University of Michigan showed in a study published last year just how early this can happen, and how it affects the learning environment. Streib found that preschoolers who came from more affluent backgrounds used verbal skills they learned at home to interrupt class, redirect the teachers' attention and "effectively silence the working-class children."

According to First Focus and Save the Children, two organizations that advocate for children at the state and federal levels, the United States is barely getting a passing grade when it comes to childhood well-being.

The two organizations released America's report card, and gave the country a C-minus overall.

Here is a question that is at the core of our work at State of Opportunity: How much of your economic destiny is tied to your parents, and how much do you control?

When scientists try to answer this question, what they’re measuring is something called “social mobility.”

We've been looking into new research that suggests your fate is not just tied to your parents, but to ancestors hundreds and hundreds of years ago. And improving opportunity across generations might be a lot harder than anyone imagined.