A Wall Street Journal-NORC poll released on Friday indicated that just over a third of Americans (36%) still believe in the so-called American dream, the idea that anyone can prosper if they work hard. This is less than half of the number who said yes to a comparable poll last year, indicating an increasingly dismal view for the US economy.
While 45% believed the American dream previously existed but no longer did, 18% stated it had never existed – more than double the percentage of respondents who said the same ten years ago.
Belief in this idea, once central to the American identity, has seemingly plummeted since last year, when 68% of poll respondents agreed with a similarly-worded statement: “If people work hard, they are likely to get ahead in America.” However, a more modest 48% of those polled by another survey provider in 2016 still believed in the American dream, down from 53% in 2012.
Half of those polled in last month’s study claimed life in the United States was worse than it was 50 years ago, while only 30% felt it had become better. Half of those polled felt that the economic and political systems were “stacked against people like [them],” while 39% disagreed.
Last year, 51% agreed with the statement “Often, I feel like I am one of the people the elites in this country look down upon” and 39% disagreed.
Age was a significant predictor of belief in the American dream, with only 28% of those under the age of 50 believing that hard work will bring them ahead in life, compared to 48% of those over the age of 65. Men were considerably more inclined than women to believe in the power of hard work (46% vs 28%).
Despite this apparent disappointment, respondents rated the economy as “good” or “excellent” in May 2022, compared to only 17% in May 2022. Inflation has fallen from last year’s four-decade high, implying that Americans may be able to make ends meet more easily, while prices remain much higher than before the Covid-19 outbreak and other factors.
