Thursday, March 5, 2020
Is fixing our city’s upward mobility challenge really possible? Harvard University researchers think so and one of them will make that case.
As the 2020 presidential campaign has unfolded, we’ve heard a lot about people struggling to achieve the American Dream. Some believe achieving it is no longer possible in today’s economy.
Charlotte is on a first-name basis with this problem. We finished dead last among other cities for upward mobility for those in poverty in a survey published six years ago. It shocked us. Trouble is, with segregation, income inequality, a lack of affordable housing and job opportunities, fixing the problem is daunting.
But the data-minded folks behind the Harvard study revealing our deficiencies used the same approach to find a solution. They say we can fix this problem and one of those researchers tells us how.
Related: WFAE's Finding Home series is following Charlotte's affordable housing crisis.
Guest
David Williams, Policy Director at Opportunity Insights, a research and public policy lab based at Harvard University dedicated to using big data to improve upward mobility in America.
Related event:
David Williams will be in Charlotte on Tuesday, March 10, 6-8 p.m. at the Dale Halton Theater on CPCC’s campus for Building Futures: a Symposium on Affordable Housing on behalf of Habitat for Humanity of the Charlotte Region.
