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Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Congrats, America. You Have Less Economic Opportunity Than You Did In 1970

Americans today have more social and educational opportunity than they did 40 years ago -- but they have less economic opportunity, thanks to a bruising recession and the alarming economic trends that preceded it.

That's the sobering conclusion of a detailed study out today from Opportunity Nation and Measure of America, which quantifies the evolution in community, educational and economic opportunity from 1970 to 2010.

The Historical Report of Opportunity sizes up the nation's progress on 10 factors, including school graduation, violent crime, poverty, access to health care, jobs, wages and economic inequality. The report factors each component into an overall score called the Opportunity Index. That index, the report finds, has increased over the decades, meaning the United States as a whole enjoys more opportunity today than it did four decades ago.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Now I officially have a challenge.I graduated from HS in 1970.Finding employment was easy,but finding decent paying employment was almost impossible.Everyone who went on to college did great,but I barely made it through HS.As depressing as this article is,I derive hope from it.