Majority of people now say it's impossible to achieve American Dream no matter how hard you work
A recent study suggests that a majority of U.S. adults believe it is impossible to achieve a comfortable lifestyle.
An exclusive poll from Newsweek, 44 percent of Americans said they think it's getting harder to achieve a middle class socioeconomic status.
Across generations, there were variations in the percentage reaching specific milestones, such as buying a house or achieving a steady and livable income.
Millennials (born 1981-1996) saw the highest rate of people who think the middle class is unachievable at 57 percent, followed by Gen Xers (1965-1980) at 59 percent. Gen Z (1997-2012) came in at 48 percent, and Baby Boomers (1946-1964) reached 51 percent.
The survey, which polled 1,500 eligible voters, found 46 percent identified as middle class, 37 percent working class, 8 percent upper class, and 10 percent were unsure.
An exclusive poll from Newsweek, fifty-four percent of Americans said they think it's getting harder to achieve a middle class socioeconomic status
Across generations, there were variations in the percentage reaching specific milestones, such as buying a house or achieving a steady and livable income
Among the survey's respondents, 48 percent felt they had not changed social classes within their lifetime, compared to 40 percent who believed they did.
Out of those who said they changed into a different social group, 46 percent said they were now middle class and 43 percent said they had landed themselves in the working class.
Users on TikTok have not been quiet about the failed promise of the American Dream they were sold growing up.
An creator named Nic vented about how his salary, which he said is three times the federal minimum wage, is still not a livable income.
'When my parents were my age, they both made less than half of what I make and they live alone. I cannot afford to live anywhere alone,' he said in the TikTok video.
Millennials (born 1981-1996) saw the highest rate at 57 percent, followed by Gen Xers (1965-1980) at 59 percent. Gen Z (1997-2012) came in at 48 percent, and Baby Boomers (1946-1964) reached 51 percent
'It is embarrassing to come out and say that. it is a struggle to survive right now.'
In an interview with the Working Hard Podcast, former Wall Street-er Vivian, better known as Your Rich BFF on TikTok, said younger generations have a different version of the American Dream.
'We cannot use the same playbook our parents gave us to live life today,' she said.
'We've been told this American dream: you work hard, you study good, you go to college, you get a good job, you climb the corporate ladder... it doesn't work like that anymore.'
'You cannot save your way to rich unless you are making upwards of half a million dollars a year. You cannot get there through saving.'
Another poll from Pew Research just further confirms the death of the American Dream, which found that the middle class has been shrinking more and more over the last 50 years.
According to the center, the US middle class is defined by household income. It falls within a range of two-thirds to double the national median income, but this can vary depending on the number of people in the household.
The percentage of Americans in middle-class households fell from 61 percent in 1971 to 51 percent in 2023, per the study,
This shift wasn't balanced – there was a slight increase in both lower-income (27 percent to 30 percent) and upper-income (11 percent to 19 percent) households.
Robert Blain, a 70-year-old Iowan, blames the decline of the American middle class on the shrinking manufacturing sector. Blain said he believes losing a significant portion of manufacturing jobs to overseas countries, particularly China, has made achieving a middle-class lifestyle increasingly difficult.
There's merit to Blain's concerns; manufacturing historically provided a pathway to the middle class, especially for those without college degrees, according to Jeremy Ney's blog on American Inequality.
However, these jobs have shifted toward lower-paying service industries with fewer benefits and weaker worker protections. Ney argues that the rise of China's manufacturing and exports hasn't been balanced by job growth in other sectors, leading to a net loss of opportunities for American workers.
The decline of the American middle class isn't just about wages. Automation has also eliminated many jobs that once provided a secure path to the middle class, as Jeremy Ney points out.
This is evident despite a seemingly positive rise in median income for middle-class households (from $66,400 in 1970 to $106,100 in 2022). But the bigger picture shows a shrinking share of total U.S. household income held by the middle class.
The income gap between classes has widened dramatically, and upper-income households saw a much steeper increase in median income (78 percent from 1970 to 2022) compared to lower-income households (only a 55 percent increase).
In the 1970s, the middle class held the majority of U.S. household incomes at 62 percent. Today, their share has shrunk to just 4 percent.
Conversely, the upper class has significantly grown its wealth, increasing its share of income from 29 percent to 48 percent. Lower-income households haven't seen a substantial change in their portion of the pie.
