The American Dream, Young Adults, and the Great Recession

• In Event: 475 - Section on Children and Youth Paper Session. Transition to Adulthood during Hard Times

Abstract

Young adults in America face an increasingly liminal existence as they come of age in one of the country’s worst economic crises. Results from 106 in-depth interviews with young people reveal social class differences in the interpretation of the Great Recession’s perceived effect on their futures. Working class young adults do not view the recession as a threat to their social aspirations. Middle class young adults feel “stunted” as a result of the recession but are optimistic about their futures overall. Finally, upper-middle class young adults perceive the recession as having long-term and serious consequences on their trajectories. Due to their general pessimism about the future, upper-middle class young adults adopt cautionary strategies to combat dismal economic opportunities. In contrast, the optimism of the working and middle class young adults discourages them from similar safeguarding.

Author

• Patricia Tevington, University of Pennsylvania