Half of the Latinians in the United States see the end of the “American dream”

The American dream has always been a basic pillar of optimism about immigrants in the United States, especially for those with Latin origin.

But after decades of this dream, it seems that the idea that anyone, regardless of its origin, can achieve success, prosperity and social advancement through hard work and opportunities available in this country, taking a rapid pace.

The results published this month appear in the study of the feelings of Americans of Latin origin, for the year 2025, conducted by the company “Nelson” for analyzes between March and April, that belief in this ideal has reached its lowest levels since the survey began in 2018, where nearly half of the Americans of Latin origin said that the dream is fading or no longer exists.

This decline is due to a set of economic, social and institutional factors, especially during the second period of Donald Trump, as high cost of living, wages, and financial insecurity increased the difficulty of achieving personal prosperity, even despite the increasing economic contributions of society.

These pressures, along with the broader social challenges, weakened the realization of the possibility of achieving the American dream.

American dream

In 2025, 48% of the Latinians said that the American dream was fading. This represents a significant increase from 25% in 2023 and 30% in 2018, indicating a worsening crisis.

The number of survey participants who feel that the dream has already ended. This number doubled more than twice in just two years, from 10.5% in 2023 to 22% in 2025.

In 2018, 22% of the Latin said that the American dream “is still alive and in good condition.” By 2025, this percentage decreased by more than half, and even the most moderate belief that the dream “is still existing, but not as” it had decreased from 47% in 2018 to 41.1% in 2025.

Age categories

Although skepticism about the American dream includes all age groups, Latin youth remain more optimistic than the elderly. Among those between the ages of 18 and 24, 11% still believe that the dream is “still existing”, which is the highest percentage of all age groups.

On the other hand, this opinion is only 6.7% of those between the ages of 45 and 54. Young people are also less likely to give up the dream completely.

Only 15% of those between the ages of 18 and 24 say that the American dream “no longer exists”, compared to about 30% of those between the ages of 25 and 34, and 25% of those ranged between 45 and 54 years. Despite the decline in optimism in general, young people of Spanish origin are still some hope, which indicates that the dream, despite its weakness, has not yet ended for the next generation.

Different experience

The language, which is often an indication of the experience of migrants against the experience of the newborn in the United States, also reveals major differences in perspective. Both Spaniards who are in Spanish and who are fluent in English have witnessed a sharp decrease in optimism since 2018, but Spanish speakers are still more connected to the dream.

In 2018, more than a third of Spanish speakers said that the American dream is “alive and lives.” By 2025, this optimism decreased to only 10.5%, which reflects the general trend.

However, it is important to note that Spanish speakers are less likely to say that the dream has completely disappeared. Only 17% believes that it is no longer present, compared to more than 22% of English speakers.

Spanish speakers also tend to take a middle position, as more than 48% believe that the dream “is still alive, but it is not as it was before”, compared to about 40% of English speakers. This indicates that although the optimism of migrants has declined significantly, it is still more resistant to fully frustrated compared to Latin who are fluent in English.

Educational levels

Optimism has decreased at all levels of education since 2018, but the data shows that Latinists with higher educational levels are now the most skeptical.

In 2025, 35% of those with a university degree for a period of four years said that the American dream was no longer present, along with 26% of those with high degrees.

On the other hand, only 16% of the high school diplomas, and 21% of the diploma holders participated.

And when combining the most optimistic answers, “the American dream is still there” and “still exists, but not as before”, the majority or nearly the majority of the most educated groups believe that the dream is still in some way.

This percentage is 56% among the diploma holders, 53% among high school graduates, and 49% among those with less education than high school. There is one exception between those holders of technical or professional certificates, as the collected optimism decreased to only 40%, which is the lowest among all groups.

There is a rapid change since the start of studying the feelings of Americans of Latin origin in 2018, as belief in the American dream witnessed a continuous decline.

In that first year, only 9% of the Latinians said that the dream was no longer present, and in 2023, this percentage increased slightly to 10.5%, before it doubled more than twice in just two years. Likewise, the percentage of those who said that the dream was “still existing” steadily, between 2018 and 2025. About “El Pais”

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Life achievements

Although there is no official definition of the American dream, public opinion polls for American adults in recent years show that it includes serious work, financial safety, professional success, and confidence that every new generation will be better off than its predecessor. The Americans also see that life achievements are an integral part of achieving the dream: graduation at the university, owning a house, forming a family, and giving their children a better life than their lives.

. Although skepticism about the American dream includes all age groups, the Latin youth remain more optimistic than the elderly.