Is the American Dream Dead? Most Parents Think Their Kids Will Be Less Well Off

Is the American Dream Dead? Most Parents Think Their Kids Will Be Less Well Off

iStockphoto
By Suelain Moy

Parents think their children will be happier and healthier in the future as adults, but also less well off, according to a new report commissioned by insurance company Haven Life.

Only one in eight Americans believe that their children will be better off financially, when compared to their parents. More than half of American parents believe their children will have less disposable income in the future, and only one in five Americans believe their children will enjoy greater quality of life.

Related: Should You Leave Your Home to Your Kids?

On the other hand, more than 60 percent of adults believe that future generations will lead “as healthy or healthier” lifestyles than adults today. And half of them think their children will grow up to be more environmentally conscious adults who lead greener lifestyles. More than half believe that this future generation will be more ethnically and racially diverse.

The study was done by YouGov for the Haven Life Insurance Agency. YouGov conducted an online poll with a representative sample of 1,124 U.S. adults in the first quarter of 2015.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times

Chart of the Day: Rising Interest on the National Debt

By The Fiscal Times Staff

Small Business Owners Say They’re Raising Worker Pay

By The Fiscal Times Staff

A record percentage of small business owners say they are raising pay for their workers, according to the latest monthly jobs report from the National Federation of Independent Business, based on a survey of 10,000 of the group’s members. A seasonally adjusted net 35 percent of small businesses say they are increasing compensation. “They are increasing compensation at record levels and are continuing to hire,” NFIB President and CEO Juanita Duggan said in a statement accompanying the report. “Post tax reform, concerns about taxes and regulations are taking a backseat to their worries over filling open positions and finding qualified candidates.”

The US Is Running Short on More Than 200 Drugs

Pharmaceutical Drugs
© Srdjan Zivulovic / Reuters
By The Fiscal Times Staff

The U.S. is officially running short on 202 drugs, including some medical staples like epinephrine, morphine and saline solution. “The medications most vulnerable to running short have a few things in common: They are generic, high-volume, and low-margin for their makers—not the cutting-edge specialty drugs that pad pharmaceutical companies’ bottom lines,” Fortune’s Erika Fry reports. “Companies have little incentive to make the workhorse drugs we use most.” And much of the problem — “The situation is an emer­gency waiting to be a disaster,” one pharmacist says — can be tied to one company: Pfizer. Read the full story here.

Chart of the Day: Could You Handle a Sudden $400 Expense?

iStockphoto
By The Fiscal Times Staff

More Americans say they are living comfortably or at least “doing okay” financially, according to the Federal Reserve’s Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2017. At the same time, four in 10 adults say that, if faced with an unexpected expense of $400, they would not be able to cover it or would cover it by selling something or borrowing money. That represents an improvement from 2013, when half of all adults said they would have trouble handling such an expense, but suggests that many Americans are still close to the edge when it comes to their personal finances.

Kevin Brady Introduces Welfare Reform Bill

File photo of House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Brady questioning witness at Joint Economic Committee hearing in Washington
GARY CAMERON
By The Fiscal Times Staff

The Tax Policy Center’s Daily Deduction reports that Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), chair of the House Ways and Means Committee on Friday introduced The Jobs and Opportunity with Benefits and Services (JOBS) for Success Act (H.R. 5861). “The bill would rename the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and target benefits to the lowest-income households. Although the House GOP leadership promised to include an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit as part of an upcoming welfare reform bill, this measure does not appear to include any EITC provisions.” The committee will mark up the bill on Wednesday