Is the American Dream -- that bedrock belief that if we work hard, we can get ahead and make a better life for ourselves and our children -- alive and well?

It depends on which Americans you have in mind.

A series of studies by The Economic Mobility Project (www.economicmobility.org), a bi-partisan initiative, reveals that while some groups continue to move up the ladder of success, others are facing a tough time. And for two significant groups – children born to low income parents and middle-income African-Americans – the picture appears even bleaker.

What is the Economic Mobility Project?

Funded and directed by The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Economic Mobility Project is a consortium of prominent scholars from four public policy institutions that cut across the political spectrum – the American Enterprise Institute, The Brookings Institution, The Heritage Foundation, and The Urban Institute.

The Project’s primary goal is to expand the current national economic debate about economic inequality to also include a fundamentally uniting discussion of opportunity and mobility. As such, and particularly in the lead-up to a presidential election, it is critical that candidates and policy makers are informed by the hard facts about mobility in America today.

What are the latest findings?

The three reports just released are written by Julia B. Isaacs, Child and Family Policy Fellow at The Brookings Institution. They tell a mixed story. Among the key findings:

1. Two thirds of Americans are making more than their parents’ family income a generation ago, but where one ends up on the economic ladder is largely dependent on one’s parents’ economic position.

2. Men and women have similar rates of mobility, but family income growth has largely been driven by women entering the workforce and the rise of dual income households.

3. White children are more likely than black children to surpass their parents’ income. White children are also more likely to move up the economic ladder while black children are more likely to fall down. Most startlingly this also applies to the almost 50 percent of black children born to middle income parents who fall to the bottom of the income distribution in adulthood.

Based on the widespread media coverage of the Project’s studies to date – three Washington Post articles on the latest reports alone, plus coverage in the Wall Street Journal, CNN, C-SPAN, USA Today, NPR, Reuters, AP, The Economist, Forbes.com, CBS.com, and numerous other online outlets and blogs – it is clear that the American people are hungry for this discussion and eager to hear what the presidential candidates have to say about how to preserve and strengthen economic mobility and the American Dream for all Americans.

To read summaries or full versions of the Economic Mobility Project’s reports, as well as a sampling of media coverage, please visit www.economicmobility.org.