The inspiration for this month’s American Dream series was a reader’s comment in the National Review:
[There is a] “lack of upward mobility in current American society. 40 or 50 years ago the expectation was, if you worked hard, went to college, paid your dues, you would be rewarded, advance and perhaps achieve a higher level of income and status than your parents. That whole dynamic has stalled, kids spend fortunes on educations which they cannot recoup, and the outlook for advancement has become grim, except for a chosen few.
My first reaction to the above comment: Oh, come on! You exaggerate - it can’t be that bad! And besides, who cares if we’re doing better than our parents?
Posts II and III of this series reviewed survey evidence on Americans’ own vision of the American Dream and whether they thought it was achievable. Common visions included being financially secure and having enough money for a comfortable retirement; safety, personal freedom, family, and the ability to enjoy life were also important. Doing better than one’s parents wasn’t mentioned in any of the surveys. Across all surveys, respondents felt they had achieved or were in the process of achieving the American Dream as they conceived it for themselves. However, they were pretty pessimistic about America’s future and the prospects of their children.
So how bad are we doing? Not so bad…yet. For example, upward mobility is alive and well in America. By that I mean most Americans move up the economic ladder from young adulthood to the peak earning years of late middle age, provided they graduated from high school, have at least some post-secondary training or education and have worked mostly full-time. Take a look:
This is not to say that Americans without any formal training or education beyond high school can’t move up the ladder. Many do, but the odds are worse.
Next: More Charts!
References:
U.S. Census Bureau. PINC-04. Educational Attainment--People 18 Years Old and Over by Total Money Earnings in 2024, Work Experience in 2024, Age, Race, Hispanic Origin, and Sex https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/cps-pinc/pinc-04.html
U.S. Census Bureau. HINC-05. Percent Distribution of Households by Selected Characteristics Within Income Quintile and Top 5 Percent in 2024. https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/cps-hinc/hinc-05.html