Stories of the American Dream have been told for generations — not just in the United States, but worldwide. Economic mobility is such a core part of the story America tells about itself: People whose families have lived here for generations and immigrant families are taught to believe that in this country, anyone, regardless of their background, can “pull themselves up by their bootstraps” to obtain and build wealth.

But recent years have seen the publication of study after study showing that this is not the case, especially for young people. A new report prepared by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for Vermont senator and 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, and provided to Teen Vogue, offers fresh evidence. The road to the American Dream looks much bumpier for millennials (people born between 1982 and 2000) than it did for Generation X (people born between 1965 and 1981) and baby boomers (people born between 1946 and 1964).

Millennials are unlike any generation that came before. According to the report, they’re more diverse (40% of millennial households are headed by someone who belongs to a racial or ethnic minority group); more educated (in 2016, an estimated 62% of millennial households had someone with at least an associate’s degree); and are marrying, cohabitating, and having children at significantly lower rates than their predecessors (in 2016, 44% of millennials were partnered and had children by age 34, compared with 54% of baby boomers). More notably, according to this report, millennials are financially worse off than their parents and may not have the opportunity to do better.

"If we don’t fundamentally transform our economy, we are facing — for the first time in the history of this country — the possibility that our young people will suffer a worse future than their parents had. This report confirms my fears,” Sanders said in a statement provided to Teen Vogue.

According to the report, in the 1970s, 94% of 30-year-olds earned more than their parents did at that age, as opposed to 2010, when only 50% of 30-year-olds earned more than their parents. In 2016, the median net worth (assets minus debt) of millennials between ages 25-34 was 36% lower than it was for Gen X'ers at that age; just $20,038, compared with $31,240 for Gen X'ers. The report goes on to highlight the unique factors that have led to this change: a decrease in homeownership and an increase in student loan debt.

About 43% of millennials between ages 25-34 own homes, compared with 51% of Gen X'ers and 49% of baby boomers at that age. Given the significant role that homeownership plays in the accumulation of wealth, this has contributed to the declining net worth of this generation. However, according to the study, student loan debt is what really differentiates millennial finances from other generations, with millennials more likely to have student debt that exceeds their annual income. In 2016, millennial households had a student loan-to-income ratio that exceeded 100%, compared with ratios of 50% or less in previous generations. The figures are particularly grim for those in the bottom 25%. While Gen X'ers and baby boomers in that cohort had a net worth around zero, on average, these millennials have about $19,470 in debt.

The GAO report also takes into account the additional factors that influence economic mobility, such as parental income. Between one-third and two-thirds of economic status is passed down from one generation to the next, according to the report, so parental income has a significant impact on wealth and earnings. Geographically, people living in counties in the southeastern United States have lower rates of economic mobility than those living in the rural Midwest. To get more specific, growing up in an affluent neighborhood can positively impact a child’s future earnings to nearly the same extent that a bachelor’s degree does. When it comes to race, Black men have lower adult income than white men who grew up in the same neighborhood as they did in 99% of census tracts, even when accounting for parental income. Additionally, only 4.2% of Black children grow up in neighborhoods that have markers associated with higher levels of mobility, compared with 62.5% of white children. (The 1934 creation of the Federal Housing Administration — which made homeownership accessible to white people by guaranteeing their loans, and simultaneously refused to back loans to Black people — played a large part in historical racial disparity, and its legacy is still visible today.)

“Our young people did what they were told: they got an education and worked hard. But instead of being rewarded, millennials are now being punished with crushing student debt and low-paying jobs,” said Sanders. “It is about time we take a hard look at this research and stand up for our young people who dream of making it into the middle class. We must tell the economic elite who have hoarded income growth in America: No, you can no longer have it all.”

“In the richest country in the history of the world, we have an obligation to turn this around and make sure our kids live healthier and better lives than we do,” concluded Sanders.

Want more from Teen Vogue? Check this out: Bernie Sanders Believes Gen Z Is “a Generation of Tolerance and Decency”