The Fading American Dream: A Reality Check

Only around one-fourth of US adults believe that the ‘American dream’ of being able to succeed through hard work still holds true, down by nearly a half from when the same question was asked in 2010, a new poll has revealed.

The ABC News/Ipsos survey released on Monday found that just 27% of Americans still believe in the American dream, defined as: “If you work hard, you’ll get ahead.” This compares with 50% when the same poll was conducted 13 years ago, in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.