By Matt Underwood Americans Lose Faith That Hard Work Leads to Economic Gains, WSJ-NORC Poll Finds, and it’s hard not to see why. It’s a sentiment that’s been brewing for a while, and the latest polls are just confirming what a lot of us already feel. The belief that hard work guarantees a better life, the cornerstone of the American Dream, is crumbling. The figures are stark: a record low percentage of people believe they have a good chance of improving their standard of living, and a vast majority feel that the dream itself is either dead or never existed.
The frustration is palpable. Many people I know, especially those in the working class, are putting in the hours, often multiple jobs, yet struggling to stay afloat. They’re the ones consistently putting in the effort, but it feels like they’re barely keeping their heads above water. They see the fruits of their labor going elsewhere, and the gap between their efforts and their rewards just keeps widening. It’s no longer about building a better life for themselves; it’s about treading water, just hoping to survive.
The shift is especially pronounced when you consider the historical context. The American Dream, in its traditional form, once held a certain promise. Finish school, work hard, and you could reasonably expect to own a home, support a family, and build a comfortable life. That promise has withered. Today, the economic realities are vastly different. The days of readily available, good-paying factory jobs are largely gone. Homeownership is increasingly out of reach for many, even those working full-time. And even with all the hard work, the cost of basic necessities like housing and healthcare seems to continuously increase, making it harder to achieve the bare minimum.
The disappointment cuts deep. It’s not just about the lack of financial gains, either. There’s a sense that the system itself is rigged, that the rules of the game favor those at the top. Many of us feel that those who are successful are not necessarily those who work the hardest, but those who have access to wealth, connections, or the ability to manipulate the system to their advantage. It’s a bleak picture, where hard work is rewarded with more work, and the gains made from that hard work never really trickle down.
The focus often tends to highlight how, in the real world, your hard work makes someone else rich. Many of us are tired of being told to work harder, only to see the rewards disappear. The relentless pressure to be more productive, to do more with less, leads to burnout. Raises are meager, and promotions are elusive. What’s the point of going the extra mile when it doesn’t matter? You work yourself into the ground, yet the financial gains rarely seem to reflect the effort invested.
It’s difficult not to question the fairness of it all, especially when you see those who appear to game the system succeeding. There are clear illustrations of this. The rise of the billionaire class, the stories of tax avoidance, and the overall trend of wealth accumulation at the very top of the economic ladder. It feels as though a different set of rules applies to them, and it’s a feeling that fosters resentment and diminishes the motivation to strive.
The responses show how widespread the feeling is. People are witnessing their employers hoard wealth, cut corners, and treat them as disposable assets. The result is a workforce that feels increasingly undervalued, and that feeling is fueling a sense of hopelessness. Many recognize that the game has changed. It’s no longer about hard work alone, it’s about where you’re starting from, and those with advantages are running laps around everyone else.
It is no wonder then that the current generation is beginning to question the value of even playing the game at all. Why study hard, pay for college, work your ass off, if the “American Dream” remains unattainable? The rising generation is starting to see that there are simply better ways to get ahead. The poll results are not merely a statistical blip. They reflect a fundamental crisis of faith, a widespread disillusionment with the promise of the American Dream. The idea that hard work alone can secure a better future is losing its grip, and something has to change.