Underpinning the many visions of the America Dream is the idea that a person can work hard, play by the rules and move up the social economic ladder so that their kids can have more opportunities for a better life. This ideal, in my view, is the glue that keeps this nation together. It turns out, however, that it’s becoming increasingly harder for low-wage families in America to realize this dream.

A report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, comparing the probabilities for social mobility in five Nordic countries and the U.S., found that a male offspring of a parent in the bottom fifth of the earning’s distribution in the U.S. will have a 42 percent chance of staying in that same economic rung as his parents; the probability is 24 percent in Denmark. Social mobility for low-income families turned out to be hardest in the U.S. The Nordic Dream, it seems, may be more real than the American Dream. (click here to see chart)

These findings are very troubling because impeding social mobility in the U.S. by neglect or omission is indeed a direct threat to the glue that keeps us together as a nation.

NYTimes Editorial: The Land of Opportunity?

When questioned about the enormous income inequality in the United States, the cheerleaders of America’s unfettered markets counter that everybody has a shot at becoming rich here. The distribution of income might be skewed, but America’s economic mobility is second to none.

That image is wrong, and these days it abets far too many unfair policies, including cuts in essential programs like Head Start or Medicaid. The poor, we are told, can use their own bootstraps. President Bush got away with huge tax cuts for the rich in part because nonrich Americans, who make up most of the population, believe everybody has a chance of making it into the club. Unfortunately, the American dream is not that broadly accessible.