"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

That's what the United States founders published in 1878 in the Declaration of Independence, but have you noticed that it's becoming harder and harder for children from lower income families to get the same opportunity as those from higher income families? You're not imagining it. We're here to deliver some heartbreaking news—the American Dream is dying.

The Equality of Opportunity Project—led by Stanford economics professor Raj Chetty—compared intergenerational mobility by looking at a child's household income at age 30 versus their parents' household income at the same age. What EOP found was a shocking drop in growth. Mobility of earning actually dropped from 90% to 50% over the past 50 years. To put it in another way, 90% of those born in the 1940s earned more than their parents and only 50% of those born in the 1980s are making more than their parents.

“It’s basically a coin flip as to whether you’ll do better than your parents,” Raj says.

Where are the professor and his team seeing the widest decline? Taking into account inflation, taxes, and changes in average household size, middle class families are the ones taking the biggest hits. “One of the defining features of the American Dream is the ideal that children have a higher standard of living than their parents,” he continues, “we assessed whether the U.S. is living up to this ideal, and found a steep decline in absolute mobility that likely has a lot to do with the anxiety and frustration many people are feeling, as reflected in the election."

The impending president (or his advisers) understands the growing frustration as the Dream continues to decay—that's why he promised to create 25 million jobs with his aggressive economic plan. “The finding of this study implies that if we want to revive the American Dream of increasing living standards across generations, then we’ll need policies that foster more broadly shared growth,” the professor ends.

To make your own conclusions about how the president-elect will effect the American Dream, take a look at his 100-day action plan for the workforce:

Seven actions to protect American workers

First, I will announce my intention to renegotiate NAFTA or withdraw from the deal under Article 2205.

Second, I will announce our withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Third, I will direct the Secretary of the Treasury to label China a currency manipulator.

Fourth, I will direct the Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representativ to identify all foreign trading abuses that unfairly impact American works and direct them to use every tool under American and international law to end those abuses immediately.

Fifth, I will lift the restrictions on the production of $50 trillion dollars' worth of job-producing American energy reserves, including shale oil, natural gas and clean coal.