A Real Agenda to Cut Poverty

Melissa Boteach argues why the road to cutting poverty cannot rely on policies that replicate and perpetuate geographic disparities.

The American Dream is premised on the idea that the circumstances of your birth should not determine how far you can rise. Yet a growing body of research shows that a child’s ZIP code too often limits her life chances, with factors such as failing schools, dangerous streets, lack of quality jobs, and a dearth of community resources coming together to perpetuate poverty. And a new report suggests even more bad news for the American Dream: As it turns out, where you live isn’t just correlated with how high up the ladder you can climb; it also helps to determine the point at which you fall off altogether.

The above excerpt was originally published in Real Clear Policy. Click here to view the full article.

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