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By Natalie RauscherWhenRaj Chetty and David Grusky et al. published their paper The Fading American Dream: Trends InAbsolute Income Mobility since 1940 (Chetty et al.2016) in 2016, it caused quite the stir. The paperwas published as part of the Working Paper series by the National Bureau ofEconomic Research (NBER) and looked at rates of absolute income mobilityas an indicator for how much children earn compared to their parents over thegenerations. They found quite an alarming trend, namely that in 1940 90% ofchildren earned more than their parents’ generation. In the 1980s, this ratehad fallen to 50%. This means that social mobility between the generations hasfallen sharply over the 20th century. Additionally, GDP growth overthe same period did not lead to increased mobility, something which had beenthe case before the 1940s. Rather, the growth rates had led to a more unequaldistribution of income between the different income groups. Thus, Chetty et al. had dismantled the enduring idea of the US as theultimate land of opportunity where you can make a better life for yourself andyour children if only you work hard enough. This land-of-opportunity idealstands for equal opportunities for everyone. Each American should have the chanceto succeed, and it only depends on the individual to grasp these opportunitiesand make something for themselves. Photo by Martin Criminale / Flickr. But this time seems to have passed and, when looking at the numbers presentedby Chetty and his colleagues, it has passed for a long time. In a New York Times article of the same year, TheAmerican Dream, Quantified at Last, David Leonhardt gives his opinionon the American Dream, saying that it developed in the 1930s when historianJames Truslow Adams defined the US in terms of ‘that dream of a land in whichlife should be better and richer and fuller for everyone.’ With the upswing ofthe US economy after the Great Depression, rapid economic growth lifted manyfamilies and following generations out of poverty. In JFK’s words, thepost-WWII rising tide did indeed lift all boats. In the 1980s, this began tochange quite dramatically. Factors ranging from globalization, technologicalchange, declining unionization, government policies favoring the well-to-do,and a plateau of educational attainment in the US are all quoted as possiblereasons why inequality began to rise. (Leonhardt 2016) John Komlos also commented on this development, which we detailed inanother blog post. One solution to counter declining mobility could be higher andespecially more widely shared economic growth. (Leonhardt 2016,Chetty et al. 2016) Education can play a large role here.As can be seen in the table below, millennials with some college education or acollege degree are less likely to be unemployed or to live in poverty than thosewho have only graduated high school. It is obvious that a 4-year college degreeis worth much more when it comes to income, but some college education can helpquite a lot. Additionally, a 4-year college program comes with a significantlybigger price tag than a community college degree, and many Americans spenddecades paying off their student debts from a 4-year program and even more frompost-graduate education. PEWResearch: Disparity among millenials ages 25-32 by education level in terms of annual earnings.Therefore, community college education could play a much moresignificant part in the educational attainment of US citizens in the future. Ina paper from 2017, authors Richard Romano and Pamela Eddy look at the role ofcommunity colleges in social mobility. They illustrate that community collegeshave played a historical role in providing higher education access tounderrepresented groups. Education at community colleges is far less expensive,the colleges are often close to the homes of students, and admission is muchmore open. Although community colleges are often underperforming when it comesto completion of college, they have proven to be a path for upward mobility forthose enrolled. This is why community college education has gained more and moreattention by politics as well. In his last year in office, President Obamaadvocated for free community college education, as have other progressivepoliticians like Bernie Sanders (Hudson 2015,Sanders 2019). There are even some examples ofstates that have introduced free college programs or explored the impact withexperimental programs. Interestingly, the Republican stronghold Tennesseeintroduced a 2-year free community or technical college program. Since 2014, thisprogram called the TennesseePromise has been offering all high-school graduates a free two-yearprogram, regardless of their income. New York, Oregon, or Rhode Island havesince experimented with similar programs but have not gone as far as Tennessee.In a state that does not champion progressive ideas or government welfareprograms on any issue, the program was presented as an economic growth programrather than just ‘another entitlement program,’ which made it acceptable forconservative politicians. Since its beginnings, the program has become sopopular that it was even expanded to include adults who do not already havecollege credentials. Thousands of people have since enrolled in the programs.This example of Tennessee shows that, if framed right, bipartisan educationreform is possible, even in times of political polarization (Wermund 2019).In the presidential candidate race of the Democratic Party for 2020,student loan debt and free college education have become some of the most prominentissues. However, the discussion has somewhat moved away from community collegesto 4-year college education. Critics see this as problematic because it could meana hand-out to upper middle-class families (Leonhardt 2019) rather than helping lower-incomehouseholds, who would benefit more from a 2-year community college education. Thesestudents are not likely to attend a full 4-year college program, and mostlikely do not need to if they want to study a more practical profession. Strengtheningthe community college programs throughout the country in this way could haveprofound positive effects for low- or lower-middle-class families who want to pursueeducation beyond the high-school level. It could also be a way to increaseaccess to life-long learning opportunities for adults who are interested in newprofessional programs. With technological progress moving ahead quickly, it iscrucial to give more Americans the chance to improve their educationalattainment and to prepare for the demands of 21st century jobs –community colleges can play a major part in this.&#160;&#160; Natalie Rauscher is currently pursuing her PhD at the Heidelberg Center for American Studies where she is also working as a research assiociate. Her dissertation looks at political and public discourse around the topics of the future of work and automation in the U.S. She is also interested in social media and social movements. She is a founding member of the HCA Graduate Blog.Get in touch on Twitter!ReferencesChetty, Raj, DavidGrusky, Maximilian Hell, Nathaniel Hendren, Robert Manduca, and Jimmy Narang.2016. The Fading American Dream: Trends in Absolute Income Mobility since 1940.In NBER Working Paper Series.Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.Hudson, David. 2015. "The President Proposes to Make CommunityCollege Free for Responsible Students for 2 Years." accessed Nov 29, 2019.https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/01/08/president-proposes-make-community-college-free-responsible-students-2-years.Leonhardt, David. 2016. "The American Dream, Quantified atLast." The New York Times, accessed May 31, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/08/opinion/the-american-dream-quantified-at-last.html.Leonhardt, David. 2019. "Free College, the Best Version."The New York Time, accessed Nov 29, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/07/opinion/community-college-chicago-tennessee.html.Romano, Richard M. and Pamela L. Eddy. 2017. "CommunityColleges and Social Mobility."&#160; Change:55-62.Sanders, Bernie. 2019. "Bernie Sanders on Education."accessed Nov 29, 2019. https://feelthebern.org/bernie-sanders-on-education/.Wermund, Benjamin. 2019. "The red state that loves freecollege." Politico, accessed Nov 29, 2019. https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2019/01/16/tennessee-free-college-000867.