'We have a problem': CNN data guru sounds alarm as 70% of Americans abandon core value

CNN data analyst Harry Enten crunched the numbers and discovered a large swathe of U.S. residents no longer believe in the American dream.

“America, we have a problem,” said Enten, describing a growing nation of economic pessimists.

“If you work hard, you'll get ahead: that is the American dream,” said Enten. “[Respondents answering] ‘Never/Not true now’, in 2010 to 2011, 15 years ago, it was 51 percent who said it wasn't true. Now look at this number! Whooo! Through the roof: 70 percent.”

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Conversely, Enten discovered the percentage of Americans who still believed the American dream to be true “falling through the floor.”

“It was 47 percent 15 years ago. Now it is just 29 percent, so we basically had a 50/50 nation on whether the American dream was still true 15 years ago, but now it's over two thirds of Americans who say it's never or no longer true,” Enten said.

Enten reported the group experiencing the most pessimism or loss in faith of the American dream was younger Americans between the age of 18 and 29, with optimism dropping from 56 percent in 2010 to just 21 percent in 2024.

“Look at where that number has absolutely tumbled to. It has dropped … 35 points to just 21 percent,” said Enten, adding that faith in the American dream also appeared to have dropped with some senior citizens, with those 65 or older experiencing a drop from 53 percent to 41 percent.

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“What is essentially going on here is the American youth have lost faith pretty much completely in the idea of an American dream,” Enten said. “And that, of course, goes back to the idea of why there's poll after poll after poll that shows that younger people, more so than any other part of our nation at this point, have seen deepening pessimism in their personal lives as well.”

Another “scary” percentage that came up in polling was the falling number of friends that Americans appear to have, said Enten, with the percentage of Americans reporting “no close friends” jumping up from just 3 percent in 1990 to 17 percent now.

“No wonder pessimism is really taking a hold in the American public” Enten said.

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