The “American dream” is a “better, richer and happier life for all our citizens of every rank,” wrote the historian James Truslow Adams over a century ago.
Yet with ordinary Americans succumbing to “deaths of despair” at alarming rates, rates of happiness hitting record lows and way too many men and women stuck in poverty across generations, it’s probably no surprise that a growing share of Americans say the Dream is out of reach.
Shannon Osaka, The Washington Post
Madison Colombo, Fox News
Lyman Stone, Peter Foreshaw Brookes, The Critic
Who Cheats More? The Demographics of Infidelity in America
Eight Reasons Women Stay in Abusive Relationships
Male Sexlessness is Rising But Not for the Reasons Incels Claim
Counterintuitive Trends in the Link Between Premarital Sex and Marital Stability
The U.S. Divorce Rate Has Hit a 50-Year Low
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© 2026 Institute for Family Studies
© 2026 Institute for Family Studies
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