The American Dream at 250
Simon-Kucher, a Bonn-headquartered pricing specialist consultancy, in a recent report examined the what opportunity, success, and progress mean to Americans in 2026. The consultancy surveyed 5,000 Americans on their goals, priorities, and perceptions of financial security and opportunity.
“The American Dream” – typically homeownership, a family, and financial stability – has for the last 100 years shaped how Americans define success. A marked decline in social mobility, increases in economic inequality, declining birthrates, and a looming AI-fueled job-pocalypse means that younger generations are redefining success.
A 2024 Ipsos poll found that only 27% of 18-29-year-olds believe the American Dream still holds true, compared to 50% for the same cohort in 2010. Younger Americans have been hammered hard in the last 15 years by skyrocketing cost-of-living (food, rent, transportation, homeownership) and comparative stagnation in wages. Those who accumulated wealth via previously persistent real wage growth, cheap property, and stocks (i.e. boomers) have pulled the ladder up behind them.
The Simon-Kucher report notes that the American Dream “is becoming more personal, less standardized, and increasingly shaped by individual circumstances.” Despite changing definitions of success, the survey found that 62% of millennials strongly or somewhat identify with the American Dream, and 55% of Gen Z do.
According to the report, Gen Z is placing greater value on personal fulfilment and meaningful experiences rather than focusing solely on wealth accumulation or career advancement. Millennials, meanwhile, are still pursuing homeownership and wealth-building, but are also more likely to prioritize enjoying life in the present.
Instead of being a self-directed generational shift to experiential hedonism, the simpler explanation is a circumscription of options. The life sentence prisoner dares not dream of freedom, for it poisons the soul; it is more prudent to make the best of life on the prison grounds. One may as well spend the rest of the monthly budget on the inflated restaurant bill or the trip to Ft. Lauderdale because it wasn’t going to tip the scales in buying the $2-million brownstone.
“The New American Dream is less about following a prescribed path and more about adapting to changing realities while pursuing personal goals,” the Simon-Kucher report notes.
The report says that money continues to shape how people pursue the American Dream, and persistent high inflation is forcing Americans to make tradeoffs. Nearly 90% of respondents have changed purchasing behavior because of inflation – with 87% saying they pay more for groceries than they did three months ago (no substitutes for food, unfortunately). As such, forty-one percent have reduced non-essential spending, 33% have cut subscriptions, 32% have reduced travel and leisure spending, and 26% have delayed major purchases.
Unseen power of the picket fence
Although homeownership is a core aspiration for respondents, 62% say that it is harder to achieve today than it was for previous generations. “Affordability challenges are making renting and alternative housing paths more acceptable – particularly among younger generations,” the report says.
Many Gen Zs (31%) also see job security as a major barrier to achieving their aspirations – predictably higher than retirement-age boomers at 5%.
Many Americans also expect to work longer, with 57% saying that retiring early is harder today. This reflects the steady, broad-based erosion of a strong middle class underpinned by unions – and the related decline of healthy retirement packages and benefits.
“For businesses, understanding these shifts isn’t just about keeping up with consumers; it’s about staying relevant as their needs continue to evolve,” the Simon-Kucher report notes.
The report advises companies to consider that consumers are evaluating value differently – especially in an experiential sense; affordability remains a competitive differentiator amid sticky inflation; one-size-fits-all offerings are becoming less effective; and financial pressure is influencing decision-making.
The Matrix: Renegotiated
In Arthur Miller’s "Death of Salesman," the doomed protagonist’s son opines, "It’s a measly manner of existence. To get on that subway on the hot mornings in summer. To devote your whole life to keeping stock, or making phone calls, or selling or buying. To suffer fifty weeks of the year for a two week vacation, when all you really desire is to be outdoors, with your shirt off. And still – that’s how you build a future.”
If there’s no longer a clear avenue to build that "future," what choice is there but to take your shirt off and go outside?
