Ever wonder how to provide a better life for your children? A Harvard University economist spent over a decade analyzing how poor children can earn more than their parents — a concept known as “economic mobility.” The study, published last week, tracked the census and tax data of 57M Americans and found that people are most likely to be friends with others with similar socioeconomic status, particularly among those at the top of the socioeconomic ladder.

• Simply growing up in a neighborhood where more parents have jobs increases economic outcomes — even if a child’s parents are unemployed, having schoolmates’ parents work improves prospects.
• However, the study found the most significant impact on adults and children of the same race — Black adult employment largely influences Black child outcomes, with the same for white demographics.

Breaking the cycle: Lead researcher Raj Chetty sees working adults as positive role models. And they aren’t the first to connect this with childhood outlook. Around the 1990s, influential sociologist William Julius Wilson wrote, “A neighborhood in which people are poor but employed is different from a neighborhood in which people are poor and jobless” (WSJ). The research reinforces hope that opportunity gaps aren’t set in stone — as long as people make an honest living.