'Diminishing returns': Why the 'sickly' American Dream keeps 'shrinking'

17 December 2024

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the Joe Biden era is ending with low unemployment. The BLS, on December 6, reported that the United States' unemployment rate was only 4.2 percent in November.

Yet many Americans continue to be frustrated over the high cost of living. From housing to education to groceries, Americans often complain that "everything costs a fortune" these days.

In an article published on December 17, Business Insider's Juliana Kaplan lays out some reasons why "the American Dream is shrinking."

"Not only is it harder to grab a piece of it, like a bag of chips or a roll of toilet paper that has less substance every time you buy it, but even nominally achieving the (American) Dream is leaving people unsatisfied," Kaplan reports. "Americans are having fewer kids, their houses are getting smaller, they're schlepping further to work, and they're spending less time on vacation."

Kaplan notes that in the past, the American Dream was associated with a "white picket fence, 2.5 children, a lucrative career at an office that's a reasonable distance away, and the occasional trip to an enviable vacation spot." But in 2024, Americans are facing "diminishing returns."

"Even among those who might have achieved the American Dream — higher earners with college degrees — life satisfaction has slipped," Kaplan observes. "Call it the shrinkflation of the American Dream.

The high cost of housing, according to Kaplan, is a major source of this "shrinkflation." Another is the expenses associated with having children; many Americans, she reports, want kids but worry about their ability to afford them.

"All of this is not to say that the American Dream has gone extinct," Kaplan explains, "but there's a marked shift from the idea that things will get better for each successive generation. In a country where growth, expansion, and constantly improving your lot — and your family's lot — are North Stars, a diminishing and sickly American Dream is a bit of an existential downer."

Read the full Business Insider article at this link (subscription required).

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