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1-Page Summary of Our Kids

What Happened to the American Dream?

In the 1950s, Port Clinton, Ohio offered a portrait of the American Dream. Minorities and women were not given many opportunities to succeed in life but it was possible for them to change their economic circumstances by working hard and being ambitious. People from different classes often socialized with each other and intermarried as well. Communities were strong and children born into poor families had a chance to improve their lives through education or hard work.

Don’s father worked two jobs so that the family could afford to buy a house. They didn’t go out or take vacations, but they bought their own home. Although Don’s parents didn’t graduate from high school, they encouraged him to attend college. He attended a state college and became a minister like his dad. Richer kids in Port Clinton had advantages that Don lacked, such as braces for Frank when he was younger and more financial security for them all (including Frank). But while Frank may have been able to pursue a career in journalism easier than Don did, it wasn’t because of any differences in life paths between the two friends.

In the 1970s, manufacturing was a major part of the local economy. However, in 1995 that number dropped to 25%. Incomes started dropping around this time as well. Population growth leveled out and even started decreasing by 1990. Businesses closed at an alarming rate. The number of single parent households grew along with juvenile delinquency rates by 1995.

In the past, wealthy people built expensive vacation homes in Port Clinton. This increased the gap between rich and poor. Nowadays, teenagers who live there experience very different educational and community worlds than Don and Frank did when they were growing up. These affluent kids enjoy expensive parties and vacations while those from poorer families live makeshift lives; their parents are sometimes absent due to arrests or drug use. Poor kids don’t get a lot of supervision at home, so they don’t do as well in school as other students do. If poorer kids graduate, it’s not clear what kind of focus or skills they have acquired during high school because their parents didn’t supervise them well enough to help them out with this process. The town exemplifies the failure of the American Dream because these teens’ parents can’t provide for them even though America is supposed to be all about equal opportunities for everyone.

Port Clinton poses a question: Does everyone still have a chance at economic equality and mobility? In the early 20th century, there was great inequality in America. But from 1945 to 1975, that trend reversed itself. From 1975 onward, however, income inequality increased again (especially among ethnicities). Those with college degrees earned “20% to 56%” more than those without one; high school graduates saw their incomes drop by 22%, while dropouts experienced an 11% decline. Neighborhoods also became segregated along class lines as this gap grew wider. Port Clinton is no different in this regard.

Families and Parenting

In the 1950’s, most families in the US had two parents. Only 4% of marriages ended in divorce. In addition, if a couple conceived children out of wedlock, they felt social pressure to get married because it was considered improper at that time for a woman to be pregnant and not married. By the 1970’s, women moved into labor markets as economic shifts removed opportunities for men. Therefore, people started divorcing more often since both husband and wife needed to work outside the home to make ends meet.

In the US, there are two new family structures: one in which both parents work and another in which only the mother works. The first structure is common for college-educated people, while the second is more common for high school graduates. Divorce rates rose from 1960 to 1980 but have declined since then. In addition, divorce has become less common among poor people than it used to be.