NBC News Poll: 78% Say American Dream Harder to Reach, 60% Retain Confidence in Military

U.S. adults say the American Dream is further out of reach than it was a generation ago, according to an NBC News poll conducted by phone and text message from May 29 through June 7. Five percent say it is easier to attain and 16 percent say the difficulty is about the same.

In 2016, 69 percent said the dream was harder to achieve than for the prior generation. Fifty-two percent now say they have “very little” or “none at all” confidence in the federal government, up from 34 percent in 2016. Fifty-six percent say the same about Congress, compared with 48 percent in 2019 and 39 percent in 2016.

S. ” Thirty-six percent express significant confidence in colleges and 30 percent in public schools. Twenty-eight percent say they have “very little” or “none at all” confidence in colleges, and 32 percent say the same about public schools.

U.S. military, down 13 percentage points since December 2016. Fifteen percent say they have little or no faith in the armed forces.

Thirty-eight percent now express little or no confidence in the high-tech industry, up from 14 percent a decade ago, while 26 percent give the industry a measure of support. Forty-three percent say they have little or no confidence in religious leaders and 22 percent say they have faith in them. ” Twenty-one percent say they are “only a little” or “not at all” proud.

Sixty-two percent of 2024 Trump voters say they are extremely proud, compared with 12 percent of 2024 Harris voters. Fifty-eight percent of adults believe the nation’s best years are behind it and 38 percent say the best years are ahead. In 2021, 41 percent said the country’s future was brighter than its past and 53 percent felt the opposite.