Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis

Putnam grew up in Port Clinton, Ohio, which was a “passable embodiment of the American Dream” in the 1950s—a place where everyone had decent opportunities (1). More recently, however, the same city is a “split-screen American nightmare, a community in which kids from the wrong side of the tracks that bisect the town can barely imagine the future that awaits the kids from the right side of the tracks” (1). This book explains how this transformation has happened all over America, why it is important, and what can be done to reverse course now.

Socioeconomic barriers were generally at their lowest in America in the 1950s. Discrimination and marginalization of women were still frequent, but social class did not constrain opportunities significantly. Today, however, class differences have a significant impact on opportunities. The author’s classmates (Port Clinton High School Class of 1959) experienced a high level of upward mobility, with nearly 75% obtaining more education than their parents and generally higher income. In contrast, their children experienced no upward mobility.

Kids in the Class of 1959 benefited from relatively low-cost education and widely available scholarships. Even kids who did not attend college right away often later went to community college. However, only 22% of the women in his class finished college, as compared with 88% of men.