Majority of Americans say the American Dream is slipping out of reach, new poll finds

A majority of Americans now say the promise of upward mobility is harder to achieve than it was for their parents, according to a new Times/YouGov poll. Fifty-nine percent of respondents said success is less attainable today, reflecting growing concern over economic stability and opportunity. The findings show a widening gap between belief in the American Dream and confidence in its reality.

The survey of 1,821 U.S. adults, conducted ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary, found that 61% still believe in the American Dream as a system where hard work leads to advancement, while only 38% said that outcome is achievable for all Americans, with nearly half saying it does not apply broadly across the population.

Current conditions draw lower marks than those associated with the past, with 38% describing life in the U.S. today as “good” or “excellent,” compared with 60% who gave the same rating to 1976 when asked to assess it retrospectively. More than half still identify the U.S. as offering better chances for success than most other countries, indicating that perceptions of global opportunity remain relatively strong even as confidence in domestic mobility narrows.

Concerns about savings, bills and health care costs appear across the responses, with 73%, 61% and 59% respectively pointing to ongoing financial pressure tied to recurring expenses rather than isolated setbacks. Those conditions shape whether households can maintain stability or move beyond it.

Reduced confidence in getting ahead follows from those pressures, with respondents linking diminished opportunity to rising costs and limited financial flexibility rather than changes in effort or ambition. The responses describe a path where sustaining financial footing becomes as significant as achieving upward movement.

Nearly half said children growing up today will be worse off than their parents, reversing a long-standing expectation that each generation will surpass the last in living standards. The result records a shift in outlook on future mobility while belief in advancement through effort remains present in the same responses.

Reports from Chinese students and professionals show a similar reassessment of life in the U.S., driven by rising living costs, immigration uncertainty and personal safety concerns.

Some who studied or worked in the U.S. described daily conditions that undercut earlier expectations. Yuner Jiang, a graduate student at Columbia University, told the Wall Street Journal that high living expenses and harassment on public transit as factors shaping her decision to consider returning to China, saying the “income-to-price ratio is definitely much better” at home. Others pointed to visa restrictions and policy shifts that made long-term plans in the U.S. less predictable.

Movement back to China has gained renewed attention alongside tighter immigration enforcement and visa uncertainty under President Donald Trump, with students and early-career professionals weighing the risk of losing legal status or facing reentry restrictions. Chinese graduates and workers described shifting calculations around long-term stability, citing policy changes, scrutiny in academic and research settings and limits on work authorization as factors shaping whether to remain in the U.S. or return home.