The American dream meant upward mobility. Now, it means stability.
For decades, the American dream meant upward mobility, but many young people today define it as simply achieving stability.
To them, securing housing, a stable career, health care and education are essential steps toward living comfortably, according to new research by the Savannah College of Art and Design's applied research studio. But Gen Z and millennial Americans feel the path to that stability is "steeper and more precarious” than it was for past generations, and the dream feels “outmoded or distant,” the report found.
Financial security, the report says, has become the single most important aspect of the American dream for young respondents.
“Many years ago, the American dream could have been being a movie star and living in a mansion,” said Erin O'Leary, vice president for institutional effectiveness at the college. But now, young people now are “not even dreaming that high.”
Today, young people face a low-hire job market, prices that keep rising – never coming down after inflation hit a 40-year high in 2022 – competition from AI, and a climate of deep political polarization and geopolitical tension. They may not be the first generation to question the promise of the American dream, but it’s no wonder, as one Gen Zer surveyed said, they “think it’s a lot harder than it has been in the past.”
Is that because life in the United States has become less affordable? An Investopedia analysis late last year found the American dream now costs $5 million over a lifetime.
Or is it because Americans’ expectations for their standard of living have increased?
“What comfort means will change across eras. In our era, it means having a car, having good health care, being able to send your children to college, being able to afford child care, and for the parents doing all this work, being able to save for their retirement,” said Dr. Elizabeth Suhay, author of the 2025 book "Debating the American Dream" and a professor of government at American University. “In some ways, it’s not a lot to ask. But given how expensive everything has gotten, it’s really out of reach.”
What are the biggest barriers to young people's American dream?
Housing and health care costs, to start.
Of those surveyed, 69% of young Americans said homeownership is an important aspect of the dream, compared with 54% of the general population. Yet it’s also the biggest obstacle in their way.
Griffin Creek, 25, who lives in southern Oregon and works in IT, makes $20 an hour and splits $1,500 rent for a 900-square-foot apartment with his girlfriend. Together they make enough to cover their bills, he said, but he needs to budget to afford anything extra.
"It's making sure you do the calculations right so that your bills get paid and you can also go pick up $40 worth of shampoo and conditioner," Creek said.
He said housing costs are his biggest barrier to achieving the dream. With the median first-time homebuyer now 40 years old, he wonders whether taking on a 30-year mortgage that ends when he turns 70 is a good idea.
"Not only does it make it unattainable, it makes you kind of question: Is it even worth it to try?" Creek said.
Across generations, a majority of respondents identified health care costs as “the most important issue for the future,” but, at 69%, more young respondents said access to care was an important part of achieving the American dream than the general population, of whom only 43% agreed.
“It doesn’t mean [young] people are rejecting ambition. It’s still there,” said Chandhana Rao Lingampally, a Gen Z research assistant who worked on the report. “They’re saying, ‘First, let me afford the rent and health care. Then we can talk about getting ahead.’”
Young people grapple with student loans, multiple jobs and tough labor market
Cheri Hall, a 66-year-old single mom living in Phoenix, said she worries about her children and grandchildren’s ability to get ahead when she herself is often forced to choose between buying groceries, covering medical care costs and paying for her utilities.
In four decades working as an advocate for children and volunteering, she said, affording bills has always been challenging, but making it work “didn’t seem to be as hard” as it is today.
Hall said her son, whose property she lives on, works multiple jobs, and her grandchildren, despite having advanced degrees, can't find opportunities in their fields in a tough job market.
“That’s been hard because they owe all of this money, and yet they don’t have work,’ Hall said. “It used to be that if you had a good speaking voice, you could answer phones. You could still do that some, but so much is automated now.”
Of young respondents surveyed, 10 in 10 identified student loan debt as a major roadblock to achieving the dream.
What else do young people consider part of the American dream?
Having a stable career and access to a good education is more important to young people's definition of the dream than the general population's.
Some of these generational gaps may reflect broader societal shifts, but they also might speak to the fact that young people are experiencing economic pressure for the first time.
“We’re looking at 18- to 29-year-olds, and they’re at the age when they are just now experiencing some of these systems,” O’Leary said. “When it’s your first time experiencing those stressors, it’s going to be elevated.”
Where young people and the general population diverged most was the importance of "community belonging" as part of the American dream. Among young respondents, 61% said it was important, compared with only 27% of all adults.
While growing up in the 2000s, Creek said, the dream represented the opportunity for everyone to work well-paying jobs, afford a home, and live "in peace."
"The main thing I refer back to is the line in the Declaration of Independence: 'the pursuit of happiness,'" Creek said, adding he's not sure Americans are guaranteed that right today. "It's sad to be sold something your entire childhood, and then to get out and see it in practice, and be like, 'Wow we really aren't.'"
Do people still believe you can attain the American dream?
Though the report found the dream is "in transition," it concluded that the core idea still endures across generations and ideologies, no matter how it is defined.
But believing that you can attain it may depend on whom you ask.
A Pew Research survey found 53% of Americans said the dream was still possible in 2024. Another 41% said the dream was once attainable but isn’t anymore, and 6% said it was never possible. Though only a small share of Americans overall felt the dream was never real, at 11%, Black Americans were about twice as likely to say this when compared with other groups.
People’s own identities and circumstances seem to shape how they view the dream. A majority of adults over 50 said they still believed it was within reach, but that share drops to 42% among those under 50.
High-income Americans were more optimistic than those struggling to get by: 64% of those with upper incomes said the dream still exists, compared with only 39% of low-income adults.
If you ask Hall, she'll say she's living her own version of the American dream. It's different from the one she heard about growing up – she doesn't own a "nice house" or buy a new car every two years – but she has redefined it.
“Life’s never been easy. It’s not supposed to. We’re supposed to work, but not work yourself to death,” Hall said. “One of the things we found out as older people is that we work, work, work, work, and we were supposed to have the golden years, but we’re too sick and tired. ... We’re still looking for ways to work and create money, because what we thought we could live on, we cannot.”
Still, despite owning “nothing,” Hall said she is free to go wherever and do whatever she wants. That, to her, represents the dream.
“I have people who love me. I have great support. I have lots of kids around. We cook together. I teach them,” Hall said. “I’m very happy. I have everything in the world. What do I need?”
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