The American Dream

Image description: family in front of their new suburban home in Levittown – America’s first suburb

INTRODUCTION:

So far in this class, you have examined the movement of millions of Americans to suburbs and what ultimately became known as the American dream—-house in the suburb, single income head of the household dad, the stay at home mom, and the 2.5 kids— dubbed the Nuclear Family (think of the Simpsons). However, the chances of achieving the American dreams especially for millennials (those born in the 1980s) have diminished especially since 2007 with the housing collapse, automation, the gig economy, stagnant wages, rising cost of living, and of course—student debt. So, how confident are you that you will achieve the American dream? Will student debt be a factor for you? will your future income afford you the lifestyle that you want? wedding, house, kids, retirement?
is the American dream what it is —a dream?
or is the American dream dead?
If it is, what can we do to save it?
 

Instructions:

For this assignment, you will watch a short video panel discussion on the topic “Is the American Dream Dead or Alive?” by Point Taken on PBS
 (Links to an external site.)
  and write a topic reply (minimum of 400 words) that answers the following questions:

• Is the American dream dead or alive?
• What is your future career?
• How many years of schooling will you have to do complete to get your degree? Will you take out a student loan? If so, how much?
• What is the anticipated annual salary of your selected job/career?
• Will your salary alone or including your spouse combined be enough to afford the following based on your estimates–a wedding (average cost $30,000 dollars) , buying a home (average home in Bay Area is $900,000 which is about a $4000-$5000 dollar monthly based on a 30 year mortgage loan), having children($250,000 per child for 18 years based on the Department of Agriculture/ about $20,000 per year), childcare(about $1500-2000 per month for one child full time based on Santa Clara County estimates), healthcare, retirement?
• If your salary is not enough for your life expectations, what do you think the solutions are?
• Could the government or should the government help in any of those areas of life (education, jobs, housing, childcare, retirement)? If yes, are you willing to pay higher taxes?