The New American Dream

Climbing the economic ladder? Think north and east
6:29am: Economic mobility is greatest in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions and worst in the South. More
Debt inequality is the new income inequality
May 2: Growing income inequality has led to ballooning debt loads for the bottom 95% of Americans. More
House GOP budget would overhaul Medicaid
Mar 20: The new Republican budget proposal would turn Medicaid and food stamps into block grants, and require people to work to get food stamps and other assistance. More
Wealth of 1.8 million Americans tops $2M
Mar 2: Wealth in America: New IRS data shows that the majority of 1.8 million wealthiest have net worth below $3 million, while less than 4% are truly uber-rich. More
How to save U.S. manufacturing jobs
Feb 23: Millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost in the last decade, but it's not too late for the industry to stage a comeback. More
Manufacturing: Not a magic pill for the economy
Feb 20: It is magical thinking to believe that manufacturing can reclaim the role it had in the mid-20th century, and contribute importantly to the resurgence of today's economy. More
Government assistance expands
Feb 7: More than a third of Americans lived in households receiving government assistance in mid-2010. Medicaid and food stamps were most popular programs. More
Federal student loan rate set to double
Jan 25: The interest rate on federal student loans is scheduled to increase to 6.8% if Congress doesn't act. President Obama urged lawmakers to stop the hike in the State of the Union. More
Democrats step up income inequality battle
Jan 12: A top White House economic adviser says growing income inequality is threatening the nation's financial health. Alan Krueger blames Bush tax cuts and promotes Obama policies. More
Middle class dropouts
Jan 11: Nearly a third of Americans who grow up middle class face downward mobility in adulthood. And that's before the Great Recession hit, which is hurting mobility. More
Bush tax cuts, stock market widen income gap
Jan 4: Income inequality has been driven by the Bush tax cuts and from increased income from capital gains and dividends, a new report shows. All this benefits the rich more. More
Americans make up half of the world's richest 1%
Jan 4: It only takes $34,000 per person to be amid the richest 1% of people in the world. More
Are you better off than mom and dad?
Dec 12: Today's young women make $1.17 for every $1 their moms earned back in 1980. Young men, however, aren't so lucky when it comes to the American Dream. More
More than 1 in 5 Americans are economically insecure
Nov 28: More than 20% of Americans face economic insecurity because they don't have the savings to cope with this decline, according to a new report. More
Older Americans are 47 times richer than young
Nov 7: The wealth gap between the oldest and youngest adult generations in America, recently expanded to its widest ever. More
Why I still believe in the American Dream
Most young people don't think they're better off than their parents, but some still believe their own personal American Dream is in reach. More
Class warfare: Who pays their fair share of taxes?
Several leading Republican candidates think more people should pay taxes, though they don't want to hike rates on the rich, which they call 'class warfare.' President Obama, meanwhile, supports a millionaire's surcharge. More
Poverty pervades the suburbs
More people in poverty live in America's suburbs than in cities or rural areas. And their numbers are multiplying fast, overwhelming social service agencies' ability to help them.More
Middle class income falls ... but not everywhere
The typical middle class household saw its income fall by 1.4% during the economic downturn. But in 21 states and the District of Columbia, income rose between 2007 and 2010.More
Faces of poverty
Millions of people are living in poverty and barely getting by, depending on government assistance. Here's what they're doing to survive. More
A rough 10 years for the middle class
Middle class income fell 7% in the latest decade, according to the latest census data. The median U.S. household makes $49,445, a level not seen since 1996. More
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