hat people are poor because they aren't working to improve their life conditions. On the other hand politicians who question the existence of equal opportunity for all often favor legislation to increase public assistance to the needy. They believe that the poverty that exists in society is due to social inequalities rather than flaws in the individuals themselves. A person's view on this issue depends mainly on her or his perception of social mobility.
             In order to understand this issue we must examine what actually takes place in America. Is poverty a permanent condition that can rarely be changed or is it only temporary? Does everyone have equal access to improve his or her life condition? How common is social mobility and in what classes is it most common? These are questions that must be addressed when examining the truth or the myth of social mobility in America.
             The focus of this paper is to examine social mobility and the factors that contribute to the likelihood of it. The factors that will be examined are race, family, income, mother and father occupation, and a few others.
              Upward social mobility is more likely for a white individual than a black individual.
              The higher the income of a family the more of a chance of social mobility for the children of the family?
              The frequency of downward social mobility is increasing and the frequency of upward mobility (from the lower classes) is decreasing.
             White individuals in our society have an obvious advantage over most minority individuals when it comes to being upwardly mobile in society. Specifically white individuals fair much than black individuals regarding this issue. Discrimination in the United States still exists and probably will for a very long time. This is a factor that holds back a lot of blacks and other minority groups. Also because blacks and other minorities are disproportionately represented in the lower ...