Aparna Mathur, Abby McCloskey, Erin Melly, “The American Dream in 2020: How To Strengthen It,” The American Enterprise Institute, April 23, 2020

“When we were researching and writing this report, a global pandemic was the farthest thing from our minds. In a matter of weeks, the economy has been overturned by COVID-19 and the response required to combat it. Economic opportunity has become not a question of how to climb the economic ladder and achieve the American dream, but how to survive when paychecks and livelihoods are threatened. Addressing the immediate needs of mass unemployment and financial insecurity are now the priority, along with repairing the underlying cracks in the system, which the pandemic more fully revealed, such as the lack of paid leave, crisis preparedness, and medical infrastructure.

Even so, the impact and response to the pandemic underscores many of the core themes in this report. The latest research on economic opportunity and upward mobility highlights the importance of social capital for economic well-being. The power of community has become all the more poignant as we have retreated to more isolated lives required by social distancing. Oftentimes, local institutions and neighborhoods have a greater influence on economic outcomes than what is occurring at the federal level.”