I really enjoy infographics because they are informative and display information in a fun and easy to read format. I was sent a very interesting infographic entitled Broke? It Might Not Be Your Fault- A Visual Guide to Your Rung on the Economic Ladder from Mint.com. I’ve been working on a post related to social mobility which is tentatively titled “Is This Still the Land of Opportunity?” Hopefully that will be an enjoyable post as it will include some of my personal experiences and observations.
While I like infographics, I think it is just the beginning of the discussion and makes people look more into the topic. This infographic goes over the key factors contributing to your own income ladder. It mentions factors such as which financial rung you start off on, where you live, the quality and affordability of education and family structure. The statistics make a lot of sense, however, I don’t know if I can agree with the title which implies that being broke is not your fault. Sure, these factors can make it harder to improve your lot in life, and yes some people have it easier in reaching a higher economic rung. However, I think we all have to take responsibility with our finances and can work to overcome most obstacles.
So what other factors do you think affect whether one is able to move up to higher economic rung? Did anything in the inforgraphic surprise you?
The locations with more upward mobility didn’t surprise me at all. I agree that the title is a bit misleading…otherwise there wouldn’t be from rags to riches stories. It’s obviously a great deal harder to break out of the cycle of poverty, but it can be done. I have a friend who lives in a very small town and there are next to no opportunities. Unfortunately, he can’t afford to buy a car to go to any nearby cities, and he has been searching for years. He went to college but had to drop out to take care of his grandma, but since he was going for computers, there’s not many places in his small town hiring for that. It seems like such an endless cycle where you’re stuck. While I don’t necessarily love where I live/grew up, I am thankful for the opportunities here.
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Thanks for sharing that story. I’ve never lived a rural small town so I don’t know how that experience is. Certainly some obstacles make it more difficult to improve yourself like having to take care of a relative. I do see how that can limit your ability to move up in the world. It’s a tough situation…I wish your friend the best. I am also fortunate in that I live in a city with many opportunities.
It’s crazy that 1 in 3 people from affluent families end up making over 100K per year at 30. Not surprising, but crazy.
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Yep, they definitely have an advantage!
I was going to say… I’m surprised it’s not more to be honest, it should be if you think about it.
One thing that may count against them is that they probably don’t actually have to do any work if they don’t want to, as Mummy and Daddy would always be there to bail them out.
Another thing: even though their income is $100k+ they probably have a lot higher materialistic expectations to live up to (unless their parents happen to be part of the frugal movement). So a large percentage of them may not be any happier than the rest of the people on various rungs on the ladder.
Cheers for highlighting the intersting inforgraphic, and I look forward to your thoughts on social mobility.
Andy
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I agree…I’m sure that their high income is often a result of their parents network or because of the other advantages that they have. This is not to say that all children who are born to well to do parents are not hard-working. It really depends, there are probably many well-to-do parents who are frugal (which is how they got to where they are), and hopefully their children have learned those traits as well.
I was shown this infographic by Mint.com and was going to post it on the site, but then I realized I didn’t want to. The reason is that I don’t agree with it. Yes, you might start out in a bad situation because of where you live and how you were educated, but it is still your responsibility to change your circumstance. Being broke is technically your fault. We all have to deal with different circumstances, but we all have the ability to change them.
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I agree to a certain degree with that. I didn’t agree with the title but I think they have to make the title more extreme so it attracts people to read it. I do think that there’s validity to the information…though they are just stats and not true for everyone. I agree that we have a responsibility to change our circumstances, but it is still important to understand how some situations and circumstances can limit one’s ability to improve themselves.
I do live in a rural, poor socioeconomic area, and I see these stats every day. Kids go off to try and make something of themselves and end up back within a year. I’m not so sure it’s all money, because poor people can get lots of grants and financial aid, but it’s just the mindset of never having been prepared to do anything other than what you know. My husband taught in elementary and middle school classrooms for over ten years, and it is very likely that over half the class never had been in a elevator. let alone traveled out of the state. I think as a parent, you have to teach your kids to dream big and show them there is more to life than what you do. If our daughter decides to come live here someday, that’s great. but I want her to see some of the world and get educated before that. Otherwise, how do you know what else might be available?
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I completely agree with you Kim. I am from a very small town where there are limited opportunities. The next large city is Cincinnati which is about an hour away. I think not having the opportunities around definitely limits peoples thinking. They just kind of settle because this is all they know. I do think everyone does have the ability to change their circumstances though. I am definitely trying to teach my kids to dream big.
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I’ve read many comments about small towns and a different mindset. It is definitely very interesting. I think you are a good example of someone who makes her own opportunities…and I’m sure your kids will learn from your example and dream big.
You make a good point. It isn’t all about the money and one’s mindset is also very important. Many people may not be exposed to many things out there in the world, they may not be encouraged to strive for better by their parents, and to dream big as you mentioned.
As much as we’d like to believe that the playing field is level, this inforgraphic and a number of studies sure point to the contrary. Yes one can make it even without all the cards in the deck being stacked for them, but I guess it would be far much easier and probably faster when the deck is actually stacked in your favour.
One cannot argue with the math or economics for that matter. As much as it is about the individual, there are some other factors beyond the individuals control that affect their finances.
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That’s true, the playing field is not level. Some people start the game off on Third Base. It definitely is easier to succeed when the deck is stacked in your favor, but I do think that it’s possible, while more difficult, to succeed without those advantages.
The hard part is always reconciling the data that tells a story about a group, and then accounting for the individual who beats the odds. We can focus on the outlier (the rags to riches story) & tell one narrative: that you can overcome your background & environment, & succeed based on your efforts. Or, we can focus on the trends & tell a different story: that economic success is largely determined by factors that are outside our control, such as the place of our birth & the socioeconomic standing of our family.
I’m not smart enough to parse out the root causes for these things. I’d like to believe in the narrative that success is really dependent on our own efforts & ingenuity. My gut tells me that luck plays a bigger role than I want to admit though.
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Absolutely true, everyone loves a rags to riches story. It is possible, but it is also difficult. And I agree that we often want to believe that success is dependent purely on our own efforts and ingenuity.
I keep getting stuck on the title too because I feel like it plays into a major problem with most people in America. They look for excuses and handouts and feel everything is against them and unfair and that’s why they’re not succeeding. Success mostly comes from hard work. Done by Forty, I agree that luck plays a part too, but I don’t think that luck just falls into your lap, I think it comes in the process of chasing down opportunities as hard as you can and being prepared when that lucky moment strikes to grab it and run. Instead, most Americans hold onto the extremely rare person who was just lucky or all they see is that lucky moment and not all the work and want to know why it’s not them getting the (apparent) free ride.
Granted, title rant aside, the statistics listed are not surprising.
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I know…I don’t like the title either but it’s just there to get your attention. I do think that many people like to use it as an excuse and that success still comes mostly from hard work (and a bit of luck).
These numbers are crazy but I’m not really surprised. I’ve never lived in a small town but I can see how it’s difficult to break the cycle when you don’t have any resources or opportunities. There are factors in your environment that you can necessarily control and the playing field is not always level.
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Many who have commented have focused on the small town factor…I’ve never really thought about that either since I’ve lived in NYC my whole life, but I definitely see how that can be an obstacle if there are very few opportunities in your town.
I agree with Simon’s comment, since sometimes, not only opportunities, but access to opportunities, can be more challenging for someone in a less favorable socioeconomic status. I agree the wording of the title is awful, though.
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Yes he made a good point…access to opportunities is significant in being able to move up to a higher economic rung. While it is more challenging, I think that generally it is still possible to move up.
It’s really too bad there’s such a disparity in the U.S. The advantaged act like they’ve earned it all but basically started the race with the finish line already in sight. For those that overcame the statistics and broke free from poverty, they are the real heroes for winning the game while set to advanced mode.
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Yea I think the disparity in the US is widening and at some point will be a big issue. I see what you mean that many advantaged act like they’ve earned it. I’ve heard many children of wealthy people believe that “earned it,” they’ve even said that they’ve had to work even harder than their counterparts to prove that they earned it from their own hard work rather than their family’s name, wealth or connections. While it may be true is some situations, I think they started on third base. And yes, I truly respect those who broke free from poverty and found success.
Environment is probably a big factor in upward mobility, specifically the environment during childhood and adolescence, when most of our behaviours and viewpoints are formed. Both my wife and I come from very hard working families who immigrated here. Their work ethic was definitely passed down to us and we’ve benefited from their example of how to succeed.
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Same here, my wife and I came from hard working families who immigrated here. That is something I was thinking about going into more detail about in a future post. I feel like we probably had a similar experience/environment.
There are definitely a ton of factors that come into play when we are talking about wealth, careers, etc. If you work as a young professional, there are definitely cities that are going to give you a better chance of success. If I moved to Erskine, Minnesota, I wouldn’t have many job options 😉
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That’s true…I guess I always assumed people could move, but without having a network or support, that may not be easy. Geography is very important.
Whenever I drive through small towns I wonder what opportunities are there. There seems to be nothing. I agree with previous commentators it”s a terrible title. You might start out at a disadvantage, but there it’s the individual’s responsibility to improve themselves.
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Yes, I do think that each person has the ability to improve themselves even if they started off at a disadvantage. I’ve never lived in a small town, but it seems like the mindset is very different there.
Interesting infographic. I’m surprised by the portion describing moves from low income to high income areas. While I can see some kids revolting if that move happens as a teenager, I would have thought that for most it still would have been a boon. Does that mean that we’ve already decide who and what we are going to be by the time we’re 14?
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Yea that is kind of odd. I don’t think that we’ve decided who or what we’re going to be at age 14, but I guess often times a person’s belief system is ingrained into their head at a young age and that it is hard to overcome that later on in life. Not impossible…but harder.
Very interesting infographic. I have to agree with you though, that we must take responsibility for our own finances. If we do that, then we are much more likely to be successful. Don’t let statistics stop you from doing well financially!
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Yes, if you look at those statistics and just assume you won’t be able to make it to a higher economic rung, you definitely will fail.
This is such an interesting topic. I grew up with money (not rich, but certainly with privileges that many others don’t have) and I’ve always kind of had the mindset that you can make what you want out of life. My wife, in her career as a mental health counselor and specifically as a substance abuse counselor, has much more experience working directly with people who aren’t as fortunate. There are many people who grow up in a world where opportunity is not something they see, where it’s hard to even know that such a thing exists. It certainly doesn’t mean it’s impossible to rise up from humble beginnings (obviously it’s possible), but I do think there’s a reality that the opportunities are not the same for all.
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I grew up in a working class immigrant family and I didn’t have many privileges but feel that you can make what you want out of life. But I can definitely see how many people in difficult situations are unable to do so.
A very interesting Infographic, indeed. And there are clearly factors that you can’t really control that “push” you towards the top or the bottom. Expanding all this to a global scale would paint an even more obvious picture: in Romania, for example, top celebrities like TV personalities earn around $5000 per month (which is considered a lot). There is a newscaster I actually enjoy who earns $2,000 per month and she’s a national celebrity. So even though these people are rich in Romanian terms, worldwide they are crushed.
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Being rich in Romanian terms in fine…it doesn’t matter if they aren’t rich in a different country…since they’re living in Romania!
I grew up in a very rural town in a very poor part of Maine. The Valedictorian in the class after me turned down a full scholarship to the University of Maine in favor of becoming a lobster fisherman. I don’t look down on him, in fact I’m happy for him because he’s happy and that’s his passion. But I do think it speaks to the fact that education and professional careers aren’t as valued (or maybe can’t be as valued in my area because people don’t think they will ever have the opportunity to leave). I myself left because I didn’t want to be “stuck” in a place with no upward mobility.
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I really don’t know much about the small town mindset, it is pretty eye-opening. I definitely didn’t knkow that education and professional careers aren’t as valued. I think it’s great that he wanted to become a lobster fisherman and that’s what he did, as long as he didn’t turn down the scholarship because he didn’t think he would have an opportunity to leave the small town life.
I think the amazing info graphic reflects the reality of most Americans community. There is rampant of income and wealth disparity among the citizens. I always admire those who are in the top 1%. A 30 years old earning $100K or more.
Yes I do think that the disparity is a big problem. I admire those who make it into the top 1% by their on sweat and hard work…not much admiration for those who are there because of their parents.
According to this infographic I should be in the “making six figures” category. I have a positive net worth, but my income uncertainty makes me what I consider “broke” or financially insecure. I think children with affluent parents and good neighborhoods and all those other factors that I had, also had more freedom to pursue their passions which don’t necessarily pay.
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Interesting that you mention that those with affluent parents and good neighborhoods and other factors have more freedom to pursue their passions. My parents were working class, and they discouraged following passions, but rather focus on finding a good paying job. Not sure if there is any correlation though.
These numbers are crazy but it’s the sad truth. Remember factors like location affect the people you surround yourself with and even the opportunities available.
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Location and available opportunities are very important. Even though I live in a high cost of living area, I do think that there are a good amount of opportunities here.
I think a huge part of the problem comes in when people tell themselves “Because of the way I grew up, I can’t”. We grew up dirt, dirt poor, and never went to college, we surrounded by people who were bad with money, etc. But when I look at the (comparatively) smaller incomes Rick and I had, and how much of that we wasted, we could have achieved financial independence had we budgeted and spent our money responsibly. Excuses serve only to keep people down.
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Right on Laurie! Excuses serve to keep people down, which is why I don’t like the title of the infographic, though it does provide very important statistics.
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