> This doesn't really have to do much with success. I know plenty of people (myself included) that grew up with barely enough to scrape by and make much more th

> This doesn't really have to do much with success. I know plenty of people (myself included) that grew up with barely enough to scrape by and make much more than their parents. A lot of people like yourself, who grow up poor say this. However you're wrong. It's not to say that your success is predetermined entirely by your parents' socioeconomic status, but it's a large (and according to many scholars, the largest) predictor. Also, I have to say the usual disclaimer that correlation is not causation and all that. In general I'd say hard work is necessary, but not sufficient to succeed. Source: https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/hendren/files/mobility_geo.pdf https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/hendren/files/mobility_geo...