Class in the U.S. (part 1)

A few weeks ago, the New York Times started a series on the role of class in contemporary American society. The findings are quite interesting and they challenge the idea of greater social mobility and equality of opportunity at the core of the American dream, even though the Dream is very much alive in the minds of most Americans.

The after-tax income of the top 1 percent of American households jumped 139 percent, to more than $700,000, from 1979 to 2001, according to the Congressional Budget Office, which adjusted its numbers to account for inflation. The income of the middle fifth rose by just 17 percent, to $43,700, and the income of the poorest fifth rose only 9 percent.

As could be expected, 'class' (particularly income) seems to play a bigger role than before in education and health. The explanation given to the jump in inequality income is the usual one - globalization and technological change that have made education and skill more necessary and valued on the market. (and as could be expected, 'class' - particularly income - seems to play a bigger role than before in education and health.)

The most surprising part is that, against all odds, mobility is in the U.S. is not higher than in France or Britain and lower than in Scandinavian countries.

Morevover, and that's an interesting twist, most Americans still believe that there is more social mobility today than 30 years ago, contrary to what the figures show.

40 percent of Americans believed that the chance of moving up from one class to another had risen over the last 30 years, a period in which the new research shows that it has not. Thirty-five percent said it had not changed, and only 23 percent said it had dropped.

This can probably be explained by the fact that this is not a hot political issues, (unlike abortion or gay marriage) and therefore it does not make it to the headlines.

It is also a sign of American (blind?) optimism and faith in the future. After all, wealth has continued to increase, and so each slice of the pie has become bigger even if the slicing has been increasingly unequal, and even though merit is class-based, the U.S. s still in many ways a meritocratic society.

This is really interesting if compared to (Continental) Europe which holds a much more negative view of its economic situation. Europeans may be more in tune with reality but at the same time, they may also lack the necessary idealism that makes a nation move forward. It is clear that the education and health systems you find in most of Western Europe have reduced the inequality in the 'slicing of the pie' but the perception in Europe is that European pie (and thus each slice) is not getting bigger.

We all know you cannot "have your cake and eat it too", but it would be nice to have a bigger cake with better slicing and that should be the goal.