The American Dream

Bernie Sanders once said, “For many, the American dream has become a nightmare”. The American Dream is a cultural belief that anyone can achieve prosperity through hard work and determination. Millennials, however, are having a hard time achieving the dream as quickly as prior generations were able to. Home ownership rates for Americans under 35 years old are at a record low. The Millennial generation, those born between 1981 and 1997, is the largest in the United States’ history. According to a 2017 Harvard study, only 31% of Millennials own homes. This could be attributed to numerous factors such as student loans, later marriage, and the housing crisis of 2008. While putting off owning a home has its benefits, there are also several cons that come along with it. Are Millennials unable to attain the “American Dream”, or is the generation simply re-defining it? Certainly, homeownership is a complicated aspect in the lives of American Millennials.

The American dream has been around for many generations. Apparently it appeared for the first time in history in a history book by James Truslow Adams entitled The Epic of America published in 1931, in the book he says: “But there has been also the American dream, that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement.” Adams believed that in America if one works hard and never gives they will be affluent and prosper. However in this day and age is the American dream really an achievable dream? Signs sadly seem to be pointing to no.

The American dream has been around for decades and as most things, it changes with time. The American dream used to be living in a free country free from injustice and eventually it has come to be the hope of one day owning a home, with or without a spouse, but recently, this American dream is seeming to be nonexistent among millennials. Seeing as Millennials experienced the great recession which triggered a financial crisis a decade ago, it is feasible to believe that millennials are no longer quick to buy and own a home. The question still stands however, on whether or not this dream is alive among millennials and I believe that, no, the American dream of one day owning a home is no longer alive amongst the millennials of today.

As someone who was born at the tail-end of the millennial period, 1997, I can definitely say that I am experiencing this new American Dream for myself. Owning a home is definitely a part of the American Dream that has remained intact for as long as the country has been standing. However, for a millennial there is a new and added depth to the Dream. Millennials have been accused of many things, killing the diamond industry, killing the department store industry, and for being unwilling to enter the housing market. While the dream of owning a home is indeed alive and well among millennials, it is something that feels far beyond reach for the majority of us.

To many people, the American dream is about growing up, going to school, getting married, and owning a home. However, this is becoming less and less common due to the increasing number of Americans with substantial amounts of debt and the failing housing market. According to Harold Meyerson, a journalist for American Prospect, the economy has increased by 18% in the last 10 years, but despite the increase in jobs, it has had little to no positive effect on the middle class (the people that are usually buying homes). In fact, the average income in medium waged houses has decreased from $50,076 per year to $46,000 a year since 2005. (Poverty) Now, I want you to imagine a family. (Let’s call this family the Smiths) This family has a mom, a dad, and four children. On the outside, the family looks completely normal. The children go to good schools, and always seem to be well taken care of and provided for. You would never be able to tell, but the mother works a full time job and two part time jobs, and the father

As a baby boomer, I feel the “American Dream” of owning a home is still possible, just a little harder to obtain for the Millennial generation. The Millennial generation grew up in changing times as compared to the generations before them. They were on the forefront of the technology age, using their minds instead of the hands to interact with others. They were not challenged to be independent as soon as they turned 18. Most Millennials were not pushed to experience banking, delayed gratification, and struggling for basic needs. They were not taught in high school what a budget was, how to fill out a check, or how to even file their taxes. Most did not even obtain a serious job until after high school graduation.

The “American Dream” as we know it is dead. Or perhaps, it never truly existed. Think about it. Does anyone you know truly own their home? Or do they own a piece of paper which tells them how much they must pay monthly to continue living in the home they supposedly bought? Do they even own their car? Or are they paying monthly payments and spending more on the vehicle than it was ever worth? Millennials know this. They have watched parents, relatives and family friends go through agony over debt, foreclosures, and tightened budgets. They have also seen how the job market can fluctuate quickly and once profitable locations, such as Detroit, can become wastelands in a matter of years. Millennials are wary of entering the housing market and are disillusioned with the “American Dream”.

The American dream usually involves having a great job and a loving family. These are two things that everyone strives for and wants in their lives. When one achieves both, they then need to find a balance between the two and this isn’t always easy. Nowadays people are working longer hours and are spending less time with their families. This usually leads to higher divorce rates, alienation from friends and loved ones, and etc. Trying to balance between work life and family life can very difficult even during the best of times and people try to find ways in which one doesn’t interfere with the other. This type of feeling is especially true in the public sector where people are working longer hours just to make enough for their families. As a result of working these longer hours they are exhausted and are spending less times with their families. One has to wonder is there a reason for this and can one truly have a balance between their work life and their family life? The article by Mary Secret and Jennifer Swanberg looks into this dilemma to see why it occurs and how it affects people. As we look deeper into this article we will see how a stressful work environment can spillover and affects ones family life as well and why it needs to be addressed.

The American Dream is a loosely constructed concept made up of ideals of what is supposed to be obtainable while living in America. Everyone’s own individual perception of the American dream is different based on how individuals are raised, their personal goals, and motivations. Willy’s main goal in life was to be successful which was influenced by his obsession he had with the American dream. He was very optimistic on the possibilities given to him by living in a country he felt had so much promise, but his own perceptions on what he would be able to acquire only led him to go down a path he would not be able to handle in turn destroying him and his family. Though at first his passion seemed to have fueled his family’s motivations in the end the expectations set were unrealistic and the original goal had been misconstrued.

The American dream is multifaceted, multicultural, and ever-changing, but one consistent piece of this dream since the 1920’s has been homeownership. As rural America became suburbia, the dream of owning a home became more achievable for a wider majority of the population. For many in American society, homeownership is a rite of passage to adulthood, and a home has become a symbol of social status. In 2008 the United States suffered a recession based around a mortgage loan industry that became careless and subprime. During this period, many Americans fell on financial hardship and realized their homes were not worth the money that they paid. Thus the great recession began, families were uprooted from their dreams, and many children of the millennial generation became disenfranchised with the old American dream. Nine years later much of the country has made an economic rebound. The argument could be made that because of the recession many millennials have turned their back on the traditional framework of the American dream, yet in all actuality, the dream is alive and well. Millennials are dealing with an economic imbalance, and thus the evolution of that dream is happening at a different pace than it has in the past. An evaluation of homeownership will show that the pros still outweigh the cons for many millennials. Socioeconomic factors are affecting homeownership rates among millennials, and some of these factors could be changed to improve homeownership rates. This

Everyone desires to live out the “American Dream” and live a happy, healthy life. An individual that aspires this dream does it with hard work and dedication. We are faced with many different obstacles and challenges, but it is important to strategize and design a different path to be successful. As a millennial, I have been faced with many challenges in my life that have deterred me from my original plans at being successful. I always knew that it was going to take hard work and dedication, along with self-discipline and being financially responsible. Our economy has had it’s share of ups and downs. I have witnessed the struggles it has gone through. Living in California has its pros and cons as well. I often think I will never own a home unless I move out of California. I should not feel restricted because of the state I live in. I want to be able to afford to live anywhere.

In Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, one of the themes that it comments on is the American Dream. The American Dream is that through hard work everyone has the opportunity to own land regardless of where they come from. They can have a better life in their own land. The main characters, George and Lennie envision The American Dream. They do not have their own land, so they work to save money to buy their own piece of land. George and Lennie want to achieve the original American Dream because they want to own their own land, so they can stop working for others and reap the benefits.

The amount of homes being sold to millennials are relatively low because it’s too much of a financial burden and due to the fact that the perception of what the American dream is has evolved. The American dream is the ideology of being stable physically, financially, emotionally which equates to eternal happiness; how does one achieve this? Ideally one would need all of the pieces of the puzzle such as the career, the family, the car and of course, the main piece of puzzle, the house. What if such stability has never been experienced due to the “Great Recession?” The millennial generation has not experienced the luxury of an adequate income which would give them financial stability needed for the family, the car and especially a house, the most expensive, risky piece of the American dream puzzle!

I believe that the millennial America dream is drastically different than many other generations. While previous generations believed that they must own a home in order to achieve the American dream, this dream has drastically changed in recent centuries. I believe this is partially due to how attitudes millennial hold have changed within recent years. I believe that previous generations still withheld the mindset that a marriage and family was the ideal image of the American dream. I believe that previous generations held the mindset that achieving the American dream was simply to be like every other average American family. While I know many American families who live in the same areas and work the same jobs do still indeed have a lot in common and can be identified as all achieving the same American dream; many millennials are choosing different occupations and individuality in their careers. I believe that the millennial age of Americas are very independent and head strong. Being considered almost a millennial myself I see these traits within myself and my peers. I hope to be an independent women and to be able to provide for myself and my family. Through a job in a higher paying career such as nursing I hope I am able to be a sole provider for my household if it is needed. While the help of a husband would be nice I do not want to ever be in the situation of needing a husband to be considered finical stable. I also find this headstrong attitude within millennial when

As the first of the millennial generation graduated college and entered the workforce in 2007, the notorious housing bubble ruptured and the economy crashed. While there is much debate regarding the causes of these events, the results are evident and lasting, with millennials taking the biggest hit. This essay will delve into the influences and unique circumstances surrounding the millennial experience and what that means for the future of our economy. Being a millennial myself, this prompt resonated profoundly. Recently, I’ve found myself asking these pressing questions: Why can’t I afford to buy a home and support a family the way my parents did at my age? When and how will I get there? With Millennials now the largest group in the workforce, the statistics make way for a startling impact on the American economy. Despite the myths about millennials being allergic to children and selfishly unwilling to participate in the economy, censuses show that 80 percent of millennials, including the majority of renters, are interested in buying a home. Obstacles seem to be at every turn as millennials fight for our opportunities in adulthood. The future of America is currently underpaid and drowning in student loan debt while the cost of living is escalating. After much research, here are my ideas surrounding the current debacle along with creative solutions to potentially overcome it.