Catherwood LibraryILR School

Upward mobility – the ability to chase the American dream - is most difficult in the South, according to data analysis from the Equality of Opportunity Project. Even cities like Charlotte, North Carolina, ranked among the fastest-growing regions in the country and a leader of economic development in the South, ranked dead last in terms of economic mobility. Children born into the bottom 20 percent of Charlotte’s income distribution had a 4.4 percent chance of making it to the top 20 percent, compared to a 12.9 percent chance in San Jose, California, and a 10.8 percent chance for children in Salt Lake City. Economic mobility tends to struggle where there are areas of racial segregation, poverty ratios higher than the national average, increased income inequality, more single mothers, and lower degrees of social capital, resulting in areas of concentrated poverty. State government policies have been resistant to change, with low minimum wages and low spending levels on education compared to other states. States like New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts spend $15,000 per student on elementary and secondary education – while North Carolina, Tennessee, and Mississippi spend almost half that, at roughly $8,500 per student.