The U.S. is widely viewed as a land of opportunity in which, regardless of origins, anyone can succeed by virtue of working hard. The available empirical evidence suggests that, contrary to this conventional view, the U.S. has the lowest rate of intergenerational mobility among the advanced countries for which relevant data are available.

In Europe, the U.S., and Canada, recent demographic changes as a result of immigration have led to rising concerns about the possible weakening of a shared national identity. These concerns are especially pronounced in Europe where a growing Islamic population has led to a strong nativist backlash in many countries and widespread debates over the failure of integration and multiculturalism. In the U.S.

The Great Recession led to sharp decreases in income and increases in poverty rates across the U.S. However, the severity of the impact of the recession on individual families varied based on the interaction of a number of factors: the local intensity of the recession, the strength of the local social safety net, and the level of individual household assets.