A Perfect Land For Opportunity Summary

The overall purpose of the article is to explain how the United States is not exactly a perfect land for opportunity and how it should be made better to provide equal opportunity. Over the years studies have shown that based on family life, schooling and income levels, these factors can greatly affect families and children’s chances of success in the U.S. The article also states that in order to provide equal opportunity the government must modify laws and policies to address the areas causing the imbalance of opportunity. A specific area the article touches on is how the family unit can dramatically affect the chances of a child’s success, particularly when children come from a two parent household opposed to a single parent household. This article is written for everyone in the United States to both common citizens and policy makers alike. It is an effort to spotlight that to truly be the land of opportunity the country must

The thesis of the article states “Today, people who were born worse off tend to have fewer opportunities in life” (Kenworthy, 1). The premise of the article and thesis is that people in the U.S. do not have the same opportunity and much can be attributed to family, schooling and social economic status. Some of the theoretical assumptions in the article have to do with measuring opportunity and what should be included when doing so. This was found to be best measured through statistics relating to college completion, gainful employment, and income levels. Although this is a useful way of measuring historic opportunities it is not a perfect reference tool because it does not factor in an individual’s effort to