A recent Wall Street Journal/NORC poll reveals that a majority of Americans are finding it increasingly difficult to achieve the traditional aspects of the American Dream.
Despite a widespread desire for homeownership, family stability, and a comfortable retirement, many feel these goals are now out of reach.
The poll, conducted in July, surveyed 1,502 U.S. adults and highlighted a stark gap between Americans’ aspirations and their expectations.
While 89% of respondents consider owning a home essential or important, only 10% believe it is easy or somewhat easy to achieve.
The situation is similarly hopeless for financial security and retirement, with 96% and 95% of people rating these as essential or important, yet only 9% and 8% find them achievable.
The challenge is particularly severe for younger generations, who are often burdened with high student debt and face an uphill battle in the housing market due to soaring interest rates and home prices.
This sentiment is echoed across gender and party lines, suggesting a broad-based erosion of confidence in the American Dream.
Economists agree that the public’s perception is grounded in reality. According to Emerson Sprick, an economist at the Bipartisan Policy Center, the American Dream has become increasingly difficult to achieve.
“Key aspects of the American dream seem out of reach in a way that they were not in past generations,” said Sprick.
The decline in economic mobility over recent decades further worsens these difficulties.
Research shows that while 90% of children born in 1940 were better off than their parents, only around half of those born in the 1980s can say the same. For younger Americans, the chance of earning more than their parents has become a coin flip at best.
As the American Dream becomes harder to achieve, the sense of frustration and disillusionment is palpable.
Many Americans feel that the promises made to them by previous generations have been broken, leaving them to grapple with the harsh realities of an economy that no longer works in their favor.