The promise of upward mobility - the ability to climb the ladder and "get ahead" - lies at the heart of the American Dream. In America, we are told, any child can grow up to be President. Ambition and drive matter more than parentage and social standing. We live in a land of equal opportunity that is not class-bound like the European nations our forbearers left behind.

Contrary to America's self-portrait of a bootstrap society where class is less relevant than determination, studies conclude that American society only appears to not be padlocked by class standing:

• The U.S. and Britain are the least economically mobile of wealthy nations; poor children in continental Europe and Canada have a better shot at prosperity.
  
  
• As much as 60% of parental income advantage is passed along to children.

The reality of class in America is more complicated than the myth. Stories of wealth creation and accumulation tend to stress individual characteristics while underplaying the role of privilege, luck and societal investments in making individual wealth possible. Research shows far less movement up and down the ladder than economists once thought and far less than the public thinks:

• 40% of Americans believe the chance of raising one's class status has risen over last three decades; research shows it hasn't. The odds that a person will move above the economic class of their parents haven't budged in over 30 years. Upward mobility is stagnant.
  
  
• The gap between the rich and the poor is widening: From 1979 to 2001, the after-tax income of the top 1% of American households jumped 139% while that of the middle one-fifth rose by 17% and the poorest one-fifth by just 9%.

"Keeping up with the Joneses" has long been the mantra of urban American culture. Now, it seems, we are compelled to "keep up with the Gateses." Researchers conclude that we are more likely to emulate not our neighbors, but those on the rungs above us on the economic and social ladder we call "class."

Ads, easy credit, and interest-only loans implore us to live beyond our means, obscuring the traditional markers of class and making it hard to read position in possessions. Debt puts lifestyles on loan that actual incomes don't support:

• The "democratization of credit" means that banks have become more lenient in who they will lend to in exchange for customers willing to pay high fees and live in debt.
  
  
• The average American receives 15 to 20 unsolicited credit card offers per month.
  
  
• Since 1990, and adjusted for inflation, median household income has risen 11%, while household spending has jumped 30% and debt by 80%.

Class standing is a critical component in American life:

• In an increasingly interconnected global society, higher education is a passport to success, yet a child's economic background - not native intelligence or ability level - is the primary predictor in school performance. 66% of high-income students graduate college in five years, whereas 41% of low-income students do, a gap that has grown over the years.
  
  
• Race and class remain linked. Of those born in the bottom 10% of the economic pyramid, 42% of African Americans will remain there as adults whereas only17% of Caucasian Americans will.
  
  
• Upper middle class Americans live longer and in better health than those in the middle class, who live longer and in better health than those below them on the class ladder. The benefits of medical advances and disease prevention overwhelmingly go to those with good income and connections.

What class do you think you are? How do you experience class? Where will your children - and their children after them - wind up on the class ladder? What factors propel them upward, and which pressure them to stay where they are? What factor does race play in how class is experienced? Are we in danger of dividing into two nations, separate and unequal? Will the middle class, as some predict, disappear? What steps can we take to ensure that this country remains rooted in equality of opportunity? What kinds of alliances are people making across class to keep the channels open for all?

Talking Points