Do you think the American Dream—that if you work hard you'll get ahead—still holds true, never held true, or once held true but doesn’t anymore?

Still holds true (36%) – "The American Dream absolutely exists; however, the individual who realizes that dream must live a life filled with hope and joy. Demonstration of your faith and belief in the American Dream is what makes it possible. Too many Americans have allowed themselves to be convinced that life is one filled with hopelessness and doom."

"I think we are in a major hiccup, but I do believe that the American Dream still holds true, and I do have hopes that things will improve in the near term. Right now, it's incredibly difficult to get ahead, primarily because of the housing market, but also because of the cost of food and goods. I do understand the sentiment among young people right now. I have been around for a while, though, and I remember times like this, where everything felt hopeless, but they did improve. I think things will moderate, or even drop, though it might take a recession to facilitate that."

• "I believe it is generational that young adults today don't want to work hard and wait for it to yield benefits. It seems that they want it all now -- a well-paying job, big house, luxury items -- as soon as they are out of school. Instant gratification, lack of focus, finding shortcuts that I blame on video games/too much screen time, computerization and depersonalization of almost everything."

"Although there are numerous disadvantages, there are still so many opportunities for people to advance their situation. What people need to understand that going bare bones to improve your economic situation will help, although not guarantee, a better economic situation."

Never held true (18%) – "Historically the "American Dream" never existed. It was just propaganda to encourage harder work in STEM, society and the American Military to defeat the Soviets during the cold war. The middle class only exists because we actually started compensating Veterans after the Second world war. The middle class has only been growing since then due to generational wealth. America was never great and never will be."

• "The Dream was true - for white Americans, especially those who were middle class or above. Disparities between races may be decreasing, but instead of an overall increase in prosperity, it seems the wealthy are more rapidly pulling away from the rest of us, leaving us with reduced opportunities and income."

Once held true, but doesn’t anymore (46%) – "While the playing field between the rich and working people wasn't even, there was at least a chance that you could afford a home, a vacation and help your kids with college. The gap started widening when "duty to shareholders" became widespread in the 80's due to deregulation and corporate practices. This put profit above all else.When covid happened, policies were enacted that showed the vast majority of Americans that the whole system is rigged to help the rich and powerful. Oh, and don't forget about the Robinhood debacle where normal people were making great money off the stock market until Wall Street short sellers and their Washington allies blocked people from buying or selling."

• "The current cost for entry to the American dream is too high for most people. The costs of quality childcare, healthcare, post-high school education, and housing are incredibly high. Meanwhile, the consumer-based economy encourages people to spend rather than save. The rules keep changing, too. Every time a new administration is sworn in at the Federal level, laws and regulations change, resulting in uncertainty. Our climate and health are changing for the worse. As a society, we are unclear about our priorities. Should we prioritize our children or business profits? It is a vicious cycle."

"Because my parents had the American dream so I know it’s possible. But the economy today holds no future due to the increasing cost of living. Affording a house now is nearly impossible. Cars are ridiculously expensive as well. Unless you fall into the category of super rich, the middle class just isn’t there anymore. You’re either rich and have no worries or you have to worry about everything financially because you can never get ahead."

• "I think it’s pretty demonstrable that 2-3 generations ago an individual could feasibly work hard, get educated, and raise their economic standing. Nowadays, education is having diminishing ROI, hard work is met with more work for the same pay, and people are feeling burnt out by chasing a dream that seems increasingly out of their grasp. Out economic data seems to favor the wealthy (e.g., stock market data) which means even when there is promising economic data being reported, poorer individuals are not feeling those effects."