Does the American Dream Live on Your Block?

The stereotypical metaphor for growing up in a low-opportunity neighborhood used to be “coming from the wrong side of the tracks,” but we can now say that your opportunity can be defined by the very block you live on. New research is now leveraging “big data” to examine the sources of inequality at a hyper-local level to show how upward mobility really works. With this information, we are better able to identify who can and can’t access the American Dream and work to improve the lives of those Americans.

Opportunity Insights, a new research and policy institute focused on improving economic opportunity, is at the forefront of this work. The Harvard-based institute, founded by Raj Chetty, John Friedman, and Nathaniel Hendren, is working to develop scalable policy solutions that help people nationwide rise out of poverty and achieve their full potential. CZI supports their efforts to better understand the causes of poverty and to create greater economic mobility for people in every neighborhood.

To explore more about this research and find out how it affects your neighborhood, read further here.