Inequality in America and how to restore the American dream

Event Details

American Forum

PBS World Channel National Broadcast: Virginia, Jan. 21, 2018/Nationally, Jan. 24, 2018

America prides itself on being a classless society, where hard work and talent get you ahead. Where status is earned, not inherited. However the United States is marked by a deepening class divide. In his current book, Richard V. Reeves argues that the most important and consequential gap in American society is the one between the upper middle class—broadly, the top fifth—and everyone else. His book shows how American society has become the very class-defined society that earlier Americans rebelled against and what can be done to restore a more equitable social order.  Reeves is a senior fellow in Economic Studies, policy director of the Center on Children and Families, and editor-in-chief of the Social Mobility Memos blog. His research focuses on social mobility, inequality, and family change. Prior to joining Brookings, Reeves was director of strategy to the UK’s Deputy Prime Minister and director of Demos. His current book is Dream Hoarders: How the American Upper Middle Class is Leaving Everyone Else in the Dust, Why That Is a Problem, and What to Do About It. His other books include: Saving Horatio Alger: Equality, Opportunity, and the American Dream (2014), Character and Opportunity (2014), The Glass Floor (2013), and The Parenting Gap (2014). A book signing will follow his appearance.