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WBUR Poll On Economic Future: 'Outlook Not So Good'

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(Nuwonga/Flickr)
(Nuwonga/Flickr)

It used to be an article of American middle class faith that if you worked hard and played by the rules, you'd be rewarded with a basic degree of economic security, maybe even move up the economic ladder. And that the next generation — your kids — would fare better than you.

But that world is vanishing. Wage growth has stalled. Government and employment based benefits have declined; economic risk and expenses like childcare, college tuition and housing have soared.

And faith that things will be better for the next generation — one of the basic tenets of the American dream — is fading.

And a new poll by WBUR shows just how much that dream is eroding here in Massachusetts. It found that the majority of respondents believed the next generation will be worse off financially than the current one, and that a majority of Massachusetts residents are worried that their own standard of living will decline.

We talk to the pollsters for more specifics on their findings.

Guests:

This segment aired on December 6, 2011.

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