Book

Our Kids

The American Dream in Crisis

Robert D. Putnam

Simon & Schuster, 2015

Buy book or audiobook

Read offline

Amazon Kindle

We currently cannot offer you an audio version of this summary.

Editorial Rating

Qualities

Innovative

Recommendation

Harvard public policy professor Robert D. Putnam documents the tragic plight of the American dream of upward mobility. His case studies, statistics and charts illustrate how the lower class has diverged from the middle and upper classes in economics, education, health and other areas. The personal accounts of people struggling against overwhelming and multifaceted circumstances will break your heart. getAbstract recommends Putnam’s presentation to educators, parents, politicians, policy makers, NGOs, and anyone interested in creating a more functional, fair society in the United States.

Summary

What Happened to the American Dream?

In the 1950s, Port Clinton, Ohio, offered a solid portrait of the American Dream. Minorities and women suffered social repression, but income inequality was relatively low. People from different classes mixed socially and often intermarried. Communities were strong, and children born to poorer families had a chance to improve their economic circumstances.

Consider Don. His father worked two jobs. The family didn’t eat out or take vacations, but they owned their home. Though neither of Don’s parents graduated from high school, they encouraged him to go to college. He attended a state college and became a minister. Richer kids in Port Clinton, like Frank, had advantages Don lacked. Frank was the first kid in his class to get braces. Frank had more financial security, but his life’s path – pursuing a career in journalism and running the family business – did not differ qualitatively from Don’s.

Starting in the 1970s, the region’s manufacturing base crumbled. Manufacturing once provided 55% of local jobs. By 1995, it provided only 25%. Incomes started dropping in the 1970s and are now 25% below the US average. Population growth...

About the Author

Robert D. Putnam is Malkin Professor of Public Policy at Harvard, winner of the Skytte Prize and the National Humanities Medal, and author of American Grace and Bowling Alone.

Our Kids

The American Dream in Crisis

Read offline

Editorial Rating

Qualities

Recommendation

Summary

What Happened to the American Dream?

About the Author

My Highlights

Comment on this summary or Diskussion beginnen

More on this topic

By the same author

Learners who read this summary also read

Related Channels