The American Dream is out of reach
By Tami Luhby
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
The American Dream is impossible to achieve in this country.
So say nearly 6 in 10 people who responded to CNNMoney’s American Dream Poll, conducted by ORC International. They feel the dream — however they define it — is out of reach.
Young adults, age 18 to 34, are most likely to feel the dream is unattainable, with 63% saying it’s impossible. This age group has suffered in the wake of the Great Recession, finding it hard to get good jobs.
Younger Americans are a cause of great concern. Many respondents said they are worried about the next generation’s ability to prosper.
Some 63% of all Americans said most children in the U.S. won’t be better off than their parents. This dour view comes despite most respondents, 54%, feeling they are better off than their own parents.
The downbeat mood is not surprising, say economic mobility experts.
“The pessimism is reflective of the financial realities a lot of families are facing,” said Erin Currier, the director of the Economic Mobility Project at Pew Charitable Trusts. “They are treading water, but their income is not translating into solid financial security.”
https://money.cnn.com/2014/06/04/news/economy/american-dream/index.html
They should have defined the American Dream. Is it doing better than your parents? That will be pretty hard in some areas, like Ridgewood.
Are the dreams realistic? Lots of kids think that they will become billionaires writing the next social app. Soon (hopefully) they will realize that the needs of the world cannot be met with an app.
Work is hard and this generation needs to learn that they need skills and a good work ethic to get ahead.
It is hard, and every generation of teenagers think they are somehow the special ones. Human ego is a very strong trait. However, the current crop of youngsters has grown up in what have probably been the most visually prosperous times ever. It really is no wonder that they have this totally unrealistic view of what lies ahead for them. Even those that are already in the early stages of working are still totally clueless in terms of what aspects of their lives they need to prioritize. There’s clearly no desire to leave the very comfortable confines of mom and dad’s house, while they completeley waste their paychecks on cars, electronics, and their social lives. We seem to have this new generation of millennials who refuse to grow up.