Investigating the American Dream in Pretty Woman 1990

Year 2004, Issue: 19, 59 - 68, 01.04.2004

J. Emmett Winn

Abstract

The United States has the largest gap between rich and poor individuals living in the top industrialized nations of the world, a gulf that widened significantly during the 1990s Miringoff and Miringoff 104 , and the gap has worsened since the tragic events of September 11, 2001 Mishel, Bernstein and Allegretto 383 . Despite the economic boom of the 1990s, real dollars weekly wages had been declining since the early 1970s Miringoff and Miringoff 98 and since 2001 “the wage growth of many workers has continued to slow and is now falling behind inflation” Mishel, Bernstein and Allegretto 19 , and the U.S. has the “worst record” of child poverty of the industrialized countries Miringoff and Miringoff 80 . These steady economic losses for the last 35 years leave Americans in a situation in stark contrast to the U. S. public’s cherished belief in the American Dream of success.

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