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.

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

Matter?", The Social Science Journal, v32, n2, April, 1995.

"The next Italians: Latinos in California", The Economist, v341, n7996, December,

This article was good in showing the social mobility of immigrants, legal and illegal. The main point that should be recognized is that race played a factor in how far the immigrant made it up the social ladder. The non-Latinos seemed to fair a lot better than the Latinos. The article supports the notion that race is one of the factors in determining a person's chance of social mobility.

It is a fact that the middle class in America is in fact shrinking. While more and more people are making it to the top, the same is true for the bottom. It is my perception that in fact more people are falling out than climbing up. However I don't have any statistics to prove that at this time, I hope to accomplish that in my research.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Alladi Venkatesh, American Dream, Stephen Rose, Discrimination United, Social Survey, Population Survey, American-born Latinos, United Abstract, United America, social mobility, Findings Interpretations, black males, upward social, upward social mobility, equal opportunity, urban poor, social ladder, middle class, mobility urban poor, social mobility urban, mobility urban, public assistance, mobility black, social mobility increasing, downward social mobility,
Approximate Word count = 3327
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)