There is literally zero economic mobility in this country. If you were born poor you are trapped permanently.
Yup, that's why you are high middle class despite being born to the lowest level. Quit acting like a fool.
Social mobility is limited and there is little doubt that poor kids have trouble moving up.
It's more about 1945-75 being a time of exceptionally strong social mobility than about the modern era being uniquely problematic. This was most likely due to the US economy benefiting from last man standing status during and for about a generation after WWII. There was a similarly exceptional period of high low-skilled wages for the survivors of the Black Death in the late 1300's, but the fact that you have to look back several centuries just underscores how exceptional that period was. This isn't to say we aren't better off in absolute terms today (we obviously are), but 1945-75 was a time when life was dramatically less competitive for the average American.
