Posted June 1, 2007 to Career News | Section Home | Print

How Much do You Believe in the American Dream

Results from a follow-up survey on the 1992 Los Angeles Riots show Los Angeles residents are an optimistic group about achieving the American Dream. While a New York Times poll from 2005 indicated that 72 percent of Americans believed they had achieved the American Dream or were confident they would do so in the future, residents of the city of Los Angeles are even more upbeat as 80 percent are confident that they have achieved this or will do so in their lifetime.

"The optimism of residents in the city of Los Angeles is especially noteworthy in light of recent news that Los Angeles leads the nation in terms of income inequality and unaffordable housing," said Mara A. Marks, Ph.D., assistant professor of Urban Studies at Loyola Marymount University and senior research fellow at The Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles.

Los Angeles residents were asked, "With regard to the American Dream, do you think you have already reached it, will reach it in the future or will not reach it any time in your lifetime?" Whereas U.S. citizens reported that they were more likely than non-citizens to indicate they had already achieved the American Dream, more than two-thirds of non-citizens are optimistic that they will do so in their lifetimes.

The American Dream suggests with hard work and ambition, every citizen has a reasonable shot at success. This ideal has provided a stabilizing counterweight to destabilizing social, political and economic forces such as large scale immigration or economic recession. "Over the past three decades, perhaps no city has been so profoundly transformed - demographically, civically, economically - as Los Angeles. The enduring optimism of Los Angeles residents suggests that the American Dream is likely to endure as the nation as a whole encounters many of the same transformations that have been unfolding here for some time," said Marks.

The 2007 Los Angeles Riots Follow Up Survey, which targeted an ethnically and geographically diverse sample of residents in the city of Los Angeles, found that White residents were most likely to believe that they had already achieved the American Dream. Forty-eight percent of White residents believe they had reached the American Dream, compared to 30 percent of Koreans, 25 percent of Latinos and 22 percent of African Americans. Still, 62 percent of Latinos are confident that they will achieve the American Dream in their lifetime, as are 47 percent of African Americans, 43 percent of Koreans and 29 percent of Whites. Although more than two-thirds of African Americans believe that they had reached the American Dream or would do so in their lifetime, one-quarter of all African Americans did not believe they would ever reach the American Dream.

In addition to race, ethnicity and citizenship, the 2007 survey underscores the close association between homeownership and the American Dream, with homeowners far more likely than renters to believe that they had achieved the American Dream. Among city residents who own their homes free and clear, nearly 82 percent believe they have reached the American Dream. Among residents carrying a mortgage, nearly 56 percent indicated they had reached the American Dream, while only 44 percent of renters indicated the same.

The 2007 Los Angeles Riots Resident Follow Up Survey was conducted by Loyola Marymount University's Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles in March and April 2007 by telephone with 1,651 residents in the city of Los Angeles in English, Spanish and Korean. Respondents were drawn from an ethnically and geographically stratified sample of listed residential exchanges. The 2007 survey is part of The Leavey Center's longitudinal effort to study the impact of the LA riots, and the relationship between ethnic relations, community attitudes, government and community actions and political reforms (e.g. immigration policy reform), and quality of life (e.g. reaching the American Dream). The Leavey Center conducted similar surveys in 1997 and 2002.

About The Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles

The Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles was established in 1996 to assist students, the university, and the community at large to become agents for change that leads to social justice. Using Los Angeles as a laboratory for understanding the urban experience, The Leavey Center has become a university leader in producing highly regarded applied research, developing multidisciplinary courses, convening government and community leaders to discuss issues facing Los Angeles and potential solutions, increasing civic awareness and collective action, and engaging undergraduates in socially-relevant research.

About Loyola Marymount University

Founded in 1911, Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles is the eighth largest of the nation's 28 Jesuit universities with nearly 5,500 undergraduate students and more than 3,000 graduate and law students. LMU generates more than $250 million annually in direct economic activity and supports more than 8,300 full-time, permanent jobs through direct and indirect employment. More than 70 percent of LMU alumni live, work and volunteer in the Los Angeles region. For more LMU news, visit: www.lmu.edu/news

For results of the 2002 Los Angeles Riots Resident Follow Up Survey, please see:

Marks, Mara A..; Barreto, Matt A,; Woods, Nathan D. (2004). "Race and Racial Attitudes a Decade After the 1992 Los Angeles Riots". Urban Affairs, Vol. 40, No.1, September 2004, 3-1