The lack of class mobility is the real problem, and that is caused by tampering with the free market and big government.
For the lower class, the deterioration of marriage also traps people.
If your biological parents are not married and thus demonstrating commitment reinforced by the state, the odds of bad life outcomes go up 2-3 times, from committing suicide to drug addiction to failing a grade to joining a gang to having a baby as a teenager.
These rates are similar whether the parents are living together at birth as if married, because when you’re married, 75% are there to age 18, but only living together has a 75% chance of leaving by age 18. (Most divorces don’t include children or only a single one.)
For blacks, the illegitimacy rate is 80%. For whites, it is 30%, but for poor whites, it is a majority.
And making the commitment of marriage causes a number of other changes in outlook. If only living together, even for 20 years, they are less likely to save for retirement or the kids’ college. If married, the odds that she has subsequent children by another man are reduced after divorce, which adds chaos to the children’s lives.
So the biggest reason for kids in the lower class today being stuck in the lower class like their parents is the breakdown of marriage and rise of living together.
DING DING DING DING!!!!! WINNER!!!