Social Mobility in the United States?
            
             Abstract:
             The focus of this paper will be social mobility in America. My expected findings were that upward social mobility is declining in America, social mobility depends on race, income, mother and father occupation, and ethnicity. The method of research that I used was literature review. I found that 1) upward social mobility is more likely for a white individual than a black individual 2) upward social mobility among the lower classes is decreasing and downward social mobility is increasing 3) upward social mobility does increase the higher the person starts on the social ladder.
            
             Statement of the Issue:
             The United States of America is a country that takes pride in having a thing called "equal opportunity" for all. America is a place where one can supposedly be successful if he or she works hard. Is this the reality of our society or just a myth? If the idea of equal opportunity were a reality in America, social mobility would be a very common thing. Poverty would only be temporary for the ones who willing to work hard. It wouldn't have to mean that America would be a classless society, just one in which people moved up and down the social ladder. The question of social mobility and the truth to the idea of equal opportunity has been argued for many years in America. We have yet to come to a consensus. If it is true that equal opportunity doesn't exist in American than the idea of the "American Dream" would be false. Everything that America is about and stands for would have to be questioned and reexamined.
             Social policies in America have often been shaped by different ideas concerning this issue. Politicians who favor the idea that equal opportunity does exist often enact policies that take away public assistance to impoverished people in America. They believe that since America provides equal opportunity there is no reason to give assist...