“America has no higher rate of social mobility than medieval England"

Clark crunched the numbers in the U.S. from the past 100 years. His data shows the so-called American Dream—where hard work leads to more opportunities—is an illusion in the United States, and that social mobility here is no different than in the rest of the world.

“The status of your children, your grandchildren, your great grandchildren your great-great grandchildren will be quite closely related to your average status now,” he said.

UC Davis students CBS13 spoke to dismissed the findings.

“The parents’ wealth has an effect on ones life but it’s not the ultimate deciding factor,” Andy Kim said.