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By Marilyln Geewax | National Public Radio

In this country, all children are supposed to have a shot at success — a chance to jump “from rags to riches” in one generation.

Even if riches remain out of reach, then the belief has been that every hard-working American should be able to go from poverty to the middle class.

On Tuesday, a book and a separate study are being released — both turning up evidence that the one-generation leap is getting harder to accomplish in an economy so tied to education, technological know-how and networking.

Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam’s new book, Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis, argues that the United States is losing its status as a land of opportunity for all.

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