ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

Ensuring equal access to economic opportunity is widely accepted as a desirable goal. Nonetheless, there is little consensus regarding exactly what is meant by equality of opportunity and the appropriate role of public policy in promoting it.

Over the last several decades, the inequality of economic outcomes has widened sharply in the United States. Even as observers agree on the desirability of equal opportunity, there is considerable controversy about the optimal degree of equality in economic outcomes and/or the policies needed to achieve this goal. Nonetheless, as the rungs of the income ladder (outcomes) move farther apart, the consequences— via unequal opportunity—of the specific rung a child’s parents occupy become more severe, increasing the importance of implementing policies to equalize opportunity.

This conference will examine the extent of inequality of economic opportunity in the United States and its manifestations at the level of individual characteristics, early childhood experiences, educational institutions, and neighborhoods. It will also present estimates of unequal opportunity’s consequent cost of lower human capital and reduced economic output and consider the efficacy of possible policy remedies. We are delighted to host this conference in collaboration with the Russell Sage Foundation.