Is the American Dream fading away?

A new survey of US households has found that the majority of Americans think wealth is beyond their reach.

The US has long been seen by its residents and immigrants as a place where hard work can lead to prosperity. But results of a new poll conducted by Bankrate Inc and released January 13 suggest that 70 percent of households think that it's harder to get rich now than it ever has been, and 63 percent believe that it is not too likely or not at all likely that they will ever become rich. Over half of American adults believe it will become harder in the next ten years.

The credit crunch has had an effect on morale, with the study finding that "job loss or income reduction" and "too many bills and not enough income" are the most common, equally-blamed reasons for individuals not achieving their aspirations of wealth. Eleven percent of respondents said that credit card debt was a factor in wealth seeming out of reach. In spite of these concerns, only 52 percent say that they save consistently.

However, most consumers are taking sensible steps to recover their household's financial future. Seventy-five percent have cut back on purchases to save more and 78 percent are avoiding buying "luxury goods or unnecessary items."

By recognizing that a windfall isn't around the corner for most of us, consumers can begin taking real, actionable steps towards making a brighter financial future, said Julie Bandy of Bankrate.com. "If you can do things like save consistently and pay down the principal on a mortgage, financial comfort may not be as far away as it seems."

Consumer comparison website Bankrate.com and Princeton Survey Research Associates International polled 1,003 adults in the US aged 18 or over to conduct the survey.