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Report finds little economic mobility in North Carolina

About a third of North Carolina children from low-income families — who make less than $25,000 annually — are able to climb up the economic ladder as they grow up, according to a report released by Durham-based nonprofit Manpower Development Corp.

“The idea is that where you are born in terms of your income should not be where you end up,” said Dan Broun, MDC’s senior program director.

No part of the state meets the national average of economic mobility, measured by a movement from the lowest income levels to the middle and upper income levels.

Lucy Gorham, executive director of the UNC Center for Community Capital, said the report's findings reflect the state’s history of racial segregation and, more generally, the history of the South.

According to another report released by MDC called the 2014 State of the South, it is harder to rise above family income levels in the South than any other region in the country.

She said a long history of segregation created a feedback loop — a lack of skilled workforce doesn’t attract high-wage industries, and a lack of high-paying jobs makes it hard for families to invest in their children’s education.

The problem is worse in the most economically dynamic places like Charlotte and the Research Triangle.

While a United Nations report predicted Raleigh and Charlotte will grow by 70 percent by 2030, the census data compiled by the Brookings Institution indicated that the poor population nearly doubled from 2000 to 2012 in both cities.

“We have an economy right now in this region geared towards people at the top, but, you know, I guess I would say, how sustainable is that?” Broun said.

He said North Carolinians don’t want to have “two triangles” — one for the well-educated with high-paying jobs and the other for the poorly-educated with low-paying jobs.

The report brings up the education-to-career continuum — a connection built among secondary and postsecondary schools, local workforce agencies and industry — as a solution to cut the vicious cycle between low wages and low education.

This community-based solution is expected to create an infrastructure of opportunity that connects more people to necessary postsecondary credentials and family-supporting employment.

“Investment can mean dollars, but it can be creating a system that works more efficiently,” Broun said.

Gorham said there are many institutional strategies that can be implemented in both family support and child education, which include the end of school segregation by socioeconomic status, income tax credit, high minimum wage and affordable housing.

“We need to look like, you know, a progressive state that welcomes everybody who is investing in skilled workforce,” she said.

state@dailytarheel.com

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