This cartoon argues that intergenerational mobility is nearly impossible. The amount of wealth that is possessed by a family is usually passed on to their children. In my opinion, part of the reason that this happens is that children that grow up in poverty are often forced to either drop out of high school to work or join the workforce right after graduation in order to support their family. Therefore, they never get the chance to go to college because of their parents' financial state. For the rest of their lives, they are stuck with a minimum wage job for the rest of their life, continuing their family's impoverished legacy. Conversely, richer parents often send their children to college, allowing them to obtain a higher paying job and be wealthy like their parents. For those kids who have to immediately enter the workforce, going back to college is often out of the question because minimum wage jobs do not allow these people to save up enough money for further education. They become stuck in a vicious cycle that restricts them to one social class. This relates to the SPENT simulation I participated in during class. At one point, I was offered the opportunity to take a class which could have allowed me to make more money, but I was too afraid that the initial cost of the class would prevent me from being able to provide for my family. I experienced how difficult upward vertical mobility must be for these people.
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