1 Introduction and Overview

• Why Focus on Opportunity
• Overview of the Remaining Chapters
• Intragenerational Mobility
• Intragenerational Mobility
• What about the Underclass?
• Education and Opportunity
• Why Family Background Matters
• What Should be Done?

2 Leveling the Playing Field

• American Public Philosophy: A Belief in Equal Opportunity
• The Record of Achievement
• Discontents of a Meritocracy
• Conclusion

3 Defining Social Justice

• Can Social Justice Be Defined?
• Three Basic Questions

4 Moving Up and Down the Economic Ladder

• Inequality and Mobility
• Mobility in the United States
• Summing Up

5 Economic Growth and Opportunity

• Slower Economic Growth
• Increasing Earnings Inequality

6 Class and Opportunity

• Class Still Matters
• Class Matters Less Than Previously
• The Offsetting Effect of Slower Economic Growth
• Summing UP

7 Opportunity for Low-Wage Workers

• Are Jobs Available?
• Will Welfare Recipients Be Able to Compete for the Available Jobs?
• How Much Will the Jobs Pay?
• How Difficult Will It Be to Move Up the Job Ladder?
• Appendix: How many New Workers Will Welfare Reform Add to the Labor Force?

8 Education and Opportunity

Index