Illinois ranks near bottom in social mobility

By Glenn Minnis | The Center Square contributor
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – With Illinois now ranking among the hardest states for residents to improve their economic and social status, Republican state Rep. Dan Ugaste insists he’s focused on making sure more of them are being afforded their best chance for upliftment.

“Only growing our state with new jobs, new opportunity and more people is going to help,

Ugaste told The Center Square. “Those who are in dire economic straits, giving them a handout, more SNAP benefits or putting them on Medicaid isn’t a help. That’s a safety net to help them get over a hump. We have to have good paying jobs with good benefits.”

With Archbridge Institute researchers defining social mobility as “the ability to better oneself and those around them,” based on such factors as institutions and rule of law, entrepreneurship and growth, education and skills development and social capital, Illinois now ranks 38th across the country, including behind at least five other midwestern states that were all ranked in the top quarter.

Data also points to the state’s ongoing struggles with economic growth, high regulations and persistent corruption by elected officials as some of the biggest drivers for its poor overall standing.

Illinois’ lowest rankings came on institutions and predatory state action at 49th, followed by entrepreneurship at 45th and judicial system quality at 40th.

“The true harm is caused by the fact that we have a problem with people who think that solving a problem comes from creating a new program for it instead of creating opportunity for jobs and upward mobility,” Ugaste said. “We should be a leader, at the top of any list that people want to be on top of, not at the top of the list that you don’t want to lead on. We should be leading in social mobility; we should be leading in economic racial equality.”

Ugaste adds all the state’s issues strike him as being intertwined and playing a role in its ongoing struggles with outmigration and difficulty in attracting more taxpayers and new businesses to the area.