Is the American Dream Still Alive?

What the Phrase Actually Meant

Write first: when you hear "the American Dream," what comes to mind?

Then the original. The phrase was coined in 1931 by a writer named James Truslow Adams, who described "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… regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position."

Notice what's missing: no house, no car, no salary. It's about being recognised for who you are and not being limited by where you started. Everything else got attached later.

And here's a survey result worth knowing: when Americans are asked what the Dream means to them, the top two answers are freedom of choice and family life — neither of which is about money at all.

Mobility, College, and Housing

Moving up. How much your parents earn predicts a lot: a child of parents at the 10th percentile can expect around $40,000 as an adult, at the 50th around $60,000, and at the 90th around $100,000. And the share of children who out-earn their parents has been falling since 1940.

But here's a result that goes the other way: among children born into the bottom quarter of the income distribution, children of immigrants generally do better than children of American-born parents — and that's held true across different eras.

College. Private tuition has roughly doubled since 1991 and public four-year tuition has risen about 150%, adjusting for inflation. And yet: among adults who grew up in the poorest fifth of families, those who got a degree end up spread across every income level, while those who didn't stay clustered at the bottom. Education still moves people. It just costs a lot more to get.

One surprise worth explaining: associate's degrees have some of the best returns of any investment — better than housing or stocks — because they cost less and often teach skills employers want right away.

Housing. Homeownership for 25-to-34-year-olds has fallen from 45% to 37%. The gap by race has barely moved since 1976 — around 70% for white Americans and around 45% for Black and Hispanic Americans. And parental wealth matters enormously: over a third of people whose parents had more than $300,000 own homes, against 14% of those whose parents had under $10,000.

Open the Discussion

One more piece of context first: more people around the world say they'd like to move to the United States than to any other country, by a large margin. Whatever the internal numbers say, that external verdict is worth explaining.

• Is the American Dream alive today? Was it ever?
• Does the fact that some people move up mean the Dream is real? Should it be possible for everyone?
• Should the US try to increase mobility? What would actually do it — taxes, housing, education, something else?
• And the uncomfortable one: if the Dream says anyone who works hard succeeds, what does it imply about people who are poor?

Before you leave, find a resource to bring on Thursday.

Look Up Your Own Hometown

The Opportunity Atlas followed twenty million Americans from the neighbourhood they grew up in to the adults they became. You can search any address in the country.

• Search your hometown. What surprises you?
• Which outcomes would you expect to go together — and do they?
• The data is a few years old now. What do you think has changed since?

One thing to keep in mind: these are averages for places, not predictions about people. Nothing in that map decides anything about you.

Then close on the bigger questions: what values does the American Dream stand for, and do those values cost us anything? Is the Dream different for a family that arrived last year than for one that's been here for six generations? And how do other cultures describe a good life?

Score Your Own Week

What went well, what to improve, what you learned, and whether anything you believed changed. Then the participation matrix. Be honest with yourself.