What is the Ladder of Opportunity?

Economic inequality is perhaps most troubling when it is not the result of effort or talent, but instead is determined by the circumstances under which a child grows up. One child attends a well-run grade school and high school and heads on to college, while parents help out by supporting education and other interests, paying for college, a first car, and a first house, and offering work connections that lead to internships and jobs. Another child attends a poorly run grade school, barely makes it through a low-quality high school, does not go to college, and lacks family and peer support. These two children may be similar in their underlying talents and in the effort they put forth, but their economic outcomes are likely to be quite different.

Public policy can attempt to build a ladder of opportunities so that, even though all children will never come from identical families and attend identical schools, each child has a reasonable opportunity to attain an economic niche in society based on their interests, desires, talents, and efforts. 

 Although the general idea of a ladder of opportunity for all citizens continues to exert a powerful attraction, specifics are often quite controversial. Society can experiment with a wide variety of proposals for building a ladder of opportunity, especially for those who otherwise seem likely to start their lives in a disadvantaged position. 

The government needs to carry out such policy experiments in a spirit of open-mindedness, because some will succeed while others will not show positive results or will cost too much to enact on a widespread basis.

Related Topics

• Market Competition and Innovation
• New Technology and Positive Externalities

• Externality
• Network Externality
• Pigovian Tax
• Coase Theorem
• Agglomeration Diseconomies

• Education – Private and Social Rate of Return
• Government Approaches to Encouraging Innovation
• Public Good
• Public, Private, Club, Common Goods
• Excludable and Rivalrous Goods
• What is the Free Rider Problem for Public Goods?
• Free Rider
• Social Loafing
• Role of Government in Paying for Public Goods
• What is the Tragedy of Commons for Common Resources?
• Income Inequality
• Poverty Line?
• Poverty Trap
• Public Safety Net
• Measuring Income Inequality
• Lorenz Curve
• Ladder of Opportunity
• Tradeoff between Incentives and Income Equality