In this episode of Work in Progress, we’re talking about the American Dream: What it means to young people and what they think is standing in the way of them achieving it. My guest is Dr. Yalda T. Uhls, founder and CEO of the Center for Scholars and Storytellers at UCLA, whose new study says the American Dream remains desirable but feels out of reach to most Gen Z Americans.

Young people born between the late 1990s and the early 2010s fall into the demographic commonly called Generation Z, or Gen Z. Like any generation, they are diverse, coming from different economic, social, geographical, and cultural backgrounds.

What they all have in common is that they spent their formative years growing up in the digital world of social media and smart phones. And this seems to have played a major role in how they view the American Dream. More about that in a moment.

The study from the Center for Scholars and Storytellers at UCLA finds that young people say economic and financial challenges – including the high cost of education – are making achieving the American Dream feel increasingly unattainable to them, Dr. Uhls tells me.

According to the study, 60% of the young people surveyed say “the American Dream is realistic and achievable for most people in today’s society, but 60% also say it would be difficult to achieve it themselves personally.”

“We thought maybe they were redefining the American Dream and thinking perhaps the American Dream meant clean air or community stuff, but in fact they still believe in the American Dream. Maybe not believe in it, but they want the American Dream,” Dr. Uhls tells me.

“Everybody wants to succeed in the way that their family did or even more than their family did, but they don’t believe that they can achieve it. And that is based on the reality of their lives. There is such income and inequality; it is just increasing. They also don’t believe that the system works. They don’t believe that politics work, education is broken.

“The things that are meant to be able to lift us up and get you on a path of economic stability, unfortunately is not really prevalent in today’s society, in particular from those from lower-income families,” says Dr. Uhls.

I ask her what she believes is driving that idea that other people are achieving financial and career success, but it is going to pass me by.. That’s where social media plays a big role.

Among the study’s finding, Gen Z are forming their perceptions about the American Dream from social media, with 50% saying Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube – and to some extent Facebook and X – are the biggest influences on how they view the American Dream

“There’s so many get-rich-quick schemes on social media. Everybody is portraying themselves as having more than they really do. And when you’re young and you don’t have the life experience to think, ‘Well, is that real, or maybe they are putting on a game face?,’ you may believe it more.

“It’s nothing new. It’s just more accessible and it’s all over and in many different domains because everyone can do this and they can look at it all the time on their phones anywhere. So it can really influence the way someone feels about themselves and the way that they feel about their ability to be like someone else.

“I’m a developmental psychologist. We have a term called social comparison. Not a very complicated term, but it is a theory that was developed 70 years ago about how we compare ourselves to others to understand how to be in the world, and there’s upward social comparison and downward social comparison.

“Upward social comparison where you’re looking at someone that’s achieved a great deal can often make you feel worse because you feel that you can never get there. Every once in a while it can inspire you, but a lot of times it can make you feel worse and you see a lot of that on social media,” she explains.

So, how do young people define the American Dream today and what do they think they need to do to get there? Hint: economic stability plays a key role in their definition, but it’s not to only criteria, according to the report. Also, while social media is a key influencer in their feelers about the American Dream, they say their portrayal on television is also a factor.

Dr. Uhls and I take a closer look at those parts of the Center for Scholars and Storytellers at UCLA study in the podcast, which can listen to here, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also find our podcasts on the Work in Progress YouTube channel.

Episode 355: Dr. Yalda T. Uhls, Founder & CEO, Center for Scholars and Storytellers at UCLA
Host & Executive Producer: Ramona Schindelheim, Editor-in-Chief, WorkingNation
Producer: Larry Buhl
Theme Music: Composed by Lee Rosevere and licensed under CC by 4
Transcript: Download the transcript for this episode here
Work in Progress Podcast: Catch up on previous episodes here