Poor Students With Poorly Educated Parents More Disadvantaged In U.S. Than Other Countries:

Poor Students With Poorly Educated Parents More Disadvantaged In U.S. Than Other Countries

First Posted: 11/18/11 12:33 PM ET Updated: 11/18/11 01:24 PM ET

Intuitively, a child's academic performance is likely higher if he or she has highly educated parents, and lower if the child has less educated parents. A new report confirms that's true, but reveals that American children of poorly educated parents do a lot worse than their counterparts in other countries.

Income mobility just within the U.S. has significantly declined since the mid-90s, according to a report this month by the Boston Federal Reserve. In recent years, families were more likely to stay within their income class than before -- the rich are staying rich, and the poor and middle-class are struggling to move up the economic ladder.

But the Pew Economic Mobility Project takes it a step further by asking the question, "Does