A Deeper Look Into Background: The Connection to Success

Stephanie Liang, Walter Payton College Prep, Junior, Fall 2025

A prevailing narrative in the U.S. is that with enough hard work, anyone can achieve financial success. However, this “American Dream” mentality ignores the effects of a low-income background on youth aspirations and achievement. The Opportunity Atlas, a data tool that utilizes IRS and census data, reveals that disinvested communities produce youth with lower outcomes (Opportunity Atlas, 2025). As of 2021, “only 16% of persistently poor children are able to escape poverty” (Privette-Black, 2021).  

According to a study done by Paul Morgan, a professor of education and demography at Penn State, disparities start showing early, with children from lower socioeconomic households being 2x as likely as those from high socioeconomic households to display behavioral problems, and as a result, by the first grade, the difference is already startling. “Among first-grade students performing in the top academic quartile, only 28 percent are from lower-income families, while 72 percent are from higher-income families” (Morgan, 2011). These children are disadvantaged by a lower quality of education and less career opportunities. 

The zip code phenomenon, as revealed in the Opportunity Atlas, is also proof that opportunity and social mobility still elude many Americans. While it’s a daunting reality to recognize that children of the poor tend to have below-average outcomes as adults, nothing suggests that every child’s outcome is set in stone. In some cases, that perceived disadvantage can actually become motivation. Marlina, a senior at one of the top high schools in Illinois, Walter Payton College Prep, credits her work ethic to the desire to give back to her immigrant parents. In cases of high-achieving, low-SES students, they often feel the need to work harder than their peers because they recognize that “there’s no dad’s company to intern at” and opportunities have to be created for themselves.

Being low-income may pit you against the odds for success, but some resources specifically support low-income youth. Rosalie Abbey and Kelly Oliver with Alternative Schools Network, a not-for-profit organization working to provide the best education to inner-city youth, say that the youth they work with are “extraordinarily committed to pursuing work, school, and personal goals.” Despite the odds, coming from a disadvantaged background does not mean it’s impossible to be successful, and in this uphill battle, youth are not alone!