what is the current view of the american dream?
The American dream has taken hit after hit the past half decade. It just
suffered another blow, based on a new poll. Yet young people seem determined to
turn things around, giving us all cautious cause for optimism.
When writer James Truslow Adams coined the phrase in 1931 he called the
American dream “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer
and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or
achievement.” So it was all about opportunity, which largely has disappeared
amid a poor jobs market, heavy debts, and wages that have stalled for 25 years.
In more recent times, the American dream became closely identified with home
ownership. But that idea suffered a blow in the housing bust. Just 65% of
Americans own their home, down from 69% pre-bust, and four
out of five Americans are rethinking the reasons they’d want to buy a
house.
Perhaps the newest definition of the American dream comes from the National
Endowment for Financial Education, which found that nearly half of adults define the dream
as a comfortable retirement. Most just want to quit work at 65 or 67 and not
worry. That’s their dream, which far outpaces the 17% who cling to
homeownership as the embodiment of Adams’ vision.
suffered another blow, based on a new poll. Yet young people seem determined to
turn things around, giving us all cautious cause for optimism.
When writer James Truslow Adams coined the phrase in 1931 he called the
American dream “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer
and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or
achievement.” So it was all about opportunity, which largely has disappeared
amid a poor jobs market, heavy debts, and wages that have stalled for 25 years.
In more recent times, the American dream became closely identified with home
ownership. But that idea suffered a blow in the housing bust. Just 65% of
Americans own their home, down from 69% pre-bust, and four
out of five Americans are rethinking the reasons they’d want to buy a
house.
Perhaps the newest definition of the American dream comes from the National
Endowment for Financial Education, which found that nearly half of adults define the dream
as a comfortable retirement. Most just want to quit work at 65 or 67 and not
worry. That’s their dream, which far outpaces the 17% who cling to
homeownership as the embodiment of Adams’ vision.