Research Brief No. 6 - Family Background and Economic Mobility in the United States and Canada

Canadians and Americans have very similar notions of what constitutes the “good life”: largely economic success, stability, health and freedom. They also both believe that the way to achieve that success is through hard work, ambition and personal choices. However, there is a large gap between the ability of Canadians and Americans to achieve a different economic status than their parents. On average, three times more economic inequality is passed on in the United States than in Canada, and the largest gaps occur at the extremes of the spectrum: the richest segment of the population and the poorest. This gap comes about despite similar ideas of what constitutes success and how that success should be attained. In particular, there are significant differences in how Canadians and Americans make monetary and non-monetary investments in children