American Dream 2.0: American teenagers pessimistic about the future, worried about money

Teens in the 1990s were much more optimistic.

After 15 years, researchers now have found a significant difference among the perceptions of present-day American teenagers from those in 1996. Asking the same age group from the same state a series of questions, the study received a striking deviation on how the teens perceive their future compared to the answers given by their earlier counterparts. Findings suggest that for the teens of today, the future seems to be bleaker.

MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - During the 1990's, teenagers saw their futures as bright and sunny, as the economy was still in its booming stage. For them, the challenges of social mobility and poverty could be seen as advantages for character build-up. One teen surveyed in 1996 answered that not having everything means nothing can be easily taken for granted.

However, according to the researchers Carol Hostetter, Sabrina Williamson Sullenberger, and Leila Wood, today's American teens are losing faith in the meritocracy their 90's counterparts had. Most of the teens during the study in 2011 gave a great importance to the idea of wealth, which wasn't considered the "ticket to happiness" before.

Young people pointed out that social mobility is not an easy feat, even with an education. It appears that the emergence of the American Dream 2.0 is bleaker than the first conception.

"You can always work hard, but if you aren't given the opportunity or you don't have the funds to be able to continue working hard then you never get the chance to get out of where you are," said one student, cited in The Atlantic.

The findings showed that meritocracy is not the same anymore, as one will only have a chance in life, if the person has sufficient resources. College is still a matter of choice for an individual, however, teenagers nowadays are more concerned on the relationship of money to higher education rather than the education itself.

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