36 percent of voters say American dream still holds true: poll

Just over a third of Americans believe the American dream — that anyone can get ahead through hard work — is still true, according to a new poll, marking a sharp decline from years past.

About 36 percent of Americans still believe in the American dream, according to a poll from The Wall Street Journal and the University of Chicago NORC released Friday. That’s down from 48 percent in 2016 and 53 percent in 2012.

A similar Journal poll last year that asked whether those who work hard are likely to get ahead in the U.S. found 68 percent agreed.

Half of respondents in the new poll said the economic system is “stacked against” them and said life is worse for the average American now than 50 years ago.

The drop in confidence appears to have hit younger people and women the hardest, with nearly half of men and people over 65 standing by the American dream, while just under 30 percent of women and people under 50 feel the same, according to the poll.

Individuals interviewed by the Journal cited the falling importance and benefits of unions and inflation as some reasons to feel less confident in economic mobility.

But the survey also comes at a time when the U.S. economy has consistently performed above expectations, so far avoiding a recession that financial analysts saw as inevitable months ago. 

Unemployment fell last week to 209,000 claims, and inflation has also slowed considerably to 3.2 percent, down from its nearly 9 percent peak a year ago.

The same survey found that 35 percent of voters rated the economy’s performance as good or excellent, a large increase from 20 percent in March of this year. 

The Journal/NORC poll surveyed 1,163 people in late October. It has a margin of error of about 4 percent.